An Ultrastructural Study of the Development of Afferent and Efferent Synapses on Outer Hair Cells of the Guinea Pig Organ of Corti

Overview

Journal Cell Tissue Res

Specialties Anatomy & Histology
Cell Biology

Date 1983 Jan 1

PMID 6871969

Citations 3

Authors

D G Jones

H Eslami

Affiliations

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Abstract

The guinea pig organ of Corti was studied using transmission electron microscopy, the second turn of the cochlea being examined at various ages between 20 days before birth and 30 days postnatal. Outer hair cells were examined at each of these ages. At all ages studied, the efferent (presynaptic) terminals are large and are packed with synaptic vesicles, whereas the afferent (postsynaptic) terminals are generally smaller, with a relatively small number of vesicles. During development, the subsynaptic cistern changes from a fragmented, diffuse profile extending over 50-70% of the length of the efferent contact zones, to a continuous, compact structure spanning neighbouring synapses. Synaptic vesicles in the efferent terminals are predominantly rounded in early development, flattened vesicles appearing postnatally. The synaptic bodies at afferent synapses do not change noticeably during development. Quantitative analysis revealed that the area of efferent terminals and the length of their active zone increase with increasing age, the same parameters decreasing in afferent terminals. Synaptic vesicles in the efferent terminals decrease in diameter, but remain constant in afferent terminals, with increasing age. The number of hair cell membrane invaginations decreases as development proceeds.

Citing Articles

Reciprocal synapses between outer hair cells and their afferent terminals: evidence for a local neural network in the mammalian cochlea.

Thiers F, Nadol Jr J, Liberman M J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2008; 9(4):477-89.

PMID: 18688678 PMC: 2580814. DOI: 10.1007/s10162-008-0135-x.

Diverse synaptic terminals on rat stapedius motoneurons.

Lee D, Benson T, Christian Brown M J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2008; 9(3):321-33.

PMID: 18563488 PMC: 2538147. DOI: 10.1007/s10162-008-0125-z.

Long-term effects of sectioning the olivocochlear bundle in neonatal cats.

Walsh E, McGee J, McFadden S, Liberman M J Neurosci. 1998; 18(10):3859-69.

PMID: 9570815 PMC: 6793155.

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