Fig 2: In the mature organ of Corti, dnm1 and sh3gl2 mRNA is predominantly found in IHCs, while dnm3 is mostly present in OHCs. In a typical apical-turn OC of a hearing mouse at P20, dnm1, dnm3, and sh3gl2 mRNA was mostly confined to the sensory cells (A). Dnm1 signals were mainly localized in IHCs, but also present in OHCs (B), while dnm3 dots were mostly found in OHCs (C). Sh3gl2 mRNA was detected in both HC types with a slightly higher amount in IHCs (D). (A’–E’) Maximum intensity X-projection of three IHCs and neighboring OHCs; note that Z-axis is not true to scale. Scale bars: 5 μm.

Fig 3: Differential expression of dnm1, dnm3, and sh3gl2 mRNA in pre-mature inner and outer hair cells of neonatal mice. FISH using probes specific for mRNA of dnm1, dnm3, and sh3gl2 was performed on the apical-turn whole-mount OC shown here for a typical neonatal mouse at P4. The merged MIZP of five IHCs and adjacent OHCs (partly indicated by dashed lines) shows that the FISH signal was mainly confined to HCs (A). Dnm1 and the less abundant sh3gl2 mRNA were present in both IHCs and OHCs (B,D), while dnm3 was predominantly detected in OHCs (C). (A’–E’) Maximum intensity X-projection of three IHCs and neighboring OHCs; note that the extension of the Z-axis is not true to scale. Scale bars: 5 μm.