QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online April 13, 2007

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Glimpsing the inner ear

The vertebrate inner ear has two main components: the dorsal vestibular structures (responsible for balance) and the ventral cochlear duct (responsible for hearing). Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signalling, which emanates from the floor plate and notochord, directs the formation of these structures, but how it does this is unknown. Reciprocal gradients of Gli activator (GliA) and Gli repressor (GliR) activity are now shown by Doris Wu and co-workers to mediate these responses (p. 1713). The formation of the ventral-most otic region, the distal cochlear duct, depends on Gli2A/3A function, whereas that of the proximal cochlear duct and saccule depends on Gli3R antagonism (due to lower Shh signalling). What is particularly novel about Shh/Gli signalling in the inner ear is the dosage requirement for Gli3R in the dorsal ear; dorsal vestibular structures are rescued in Shh^-/-;Gli3^+/- embryos. These findings may have important implications for other developmental events in which Hedgehog signalling is crucial; for example, during dorsoventral cell specification in the spinal cord.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Opposing gradients of Gli repressor and activators mediate Shh signaling along the dorsoventral axis of the inner ear

Jinwoong Bok, Diane K. Dolson, Patrick Hill, Ulrich Rüther, Douglas J. Epstein, and Doris K. Wu
Development 2007 134: 1713-1722. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?