Shape Change Controls Supporting Cell Proliferation in Lesioned Mammalian Balance Epithelium

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Abstract
Mature mammals are uniquely vulnerable to permanent auditory and vestibular deficits, because the cell proliferation that produces replacement hair cells in other vertebrates is limited in mammals. To investigate the cellular mechanisms responsible for that difference, we created excision lesions in the sensory epithelium of embryonic and 2-week-old mouse utricles. Lesions in embryonic utricles closed in 300 μm2entered S-phase, whereas only 10% of those cells that had a planar area 2entered S-phase. Together, these results indicate that cellular shape change can overcome the normal postnatal cessation of supporting cell proliferation that appears to limit regeneration in mammalian vestibular epithelia.