Fig. 5. Hair cell polarity in the macula communis of the L. fluviatilis
ear at stage 29. (A-D) Projections from confocal z-stacks
of FITC-phalloidin (green) and anti-acetylated tubulin (red) double stains
revealing the actin-rich stereocilia and the tubulin-rich kinocilia of the
sensory hair cells, respectively. (A) Lateral view of whole dissected-out
inner ear; regions shown in boxes are the areas shown in detail in B, C and D.
(B,C) Lateral (B) and dorsal (C) views of sensory epithelium showing the
actin-rich infracuticular network (icn), the short apical horseshoe of
stereocilia (s), the long kinocilia (k) and the short cilia (c) on non-sensory
cells. (C') Arrow, pointing from the stereociliary bundle towards the
kinocilium, shows the polarity of one of the hair cells shown in C. (D)
Non-sensory epithelium showing the short cilia (c) present on all non-sensory
cells. (E,F) Polarity map of the anterior (E) and posterior (F)
regions of the macula communis. (E',F') Stained and dissected
specimen used to produce the map shown in E,F. F' is a composite of
several images taken in different focal planes. Scale bars: in A, 50 µm; in
B-D, 5 µm; in E,F, 25 µm.