Can you hear me now? Understanding vertebrate middle ear development (original) (raw)

IMR Press / FBL / Volume 16 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.2741/3813

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article

Can you hear me now? Understanding vertebrate middle ear development

Affiliation

1 Clemson University, Biological Sciences, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA

Published: 1 January 2011

Abstract

The middle ear is a composite organ formed from all three germ layers and the neural crest. It provides the link between the outside world and the inner ear, where sound is transduced and routed to the brain for processing. Extensive classical and modern studies have described the complex morphology and origin of the middle ear. Non-mammalian vertebrates have a single ossicle, the columella. Mammals have three functionally equivalent ossicles, designated the malleus, incus and stapes. In this review, I focus on the role of genes known to function in the middle ear. Genetic studies are beginning to unravel the induction and patterning of the multiple middle ear elements including the tympanum, skeletal elements, the air-filled cavity, and the insertion point into the inner ear oval window. Future studies that elucidate the integrated spatio-temporal signaling mechanisms required to pattern the middle ear organ system are needed. The longer-term translational benefits of understanding normal and abnormal ear development will have a direct impact on human health outcomes.

Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) Print ISSN 2768-6701 Electronic ISSN 2768-6698

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