Thin and open vessel windows for intra-vital fluorescence imaging of murine cochlear blood flow.

Thin and open vessel windows for intra-vital fluorescence imaging of murine cochlear blood flow. Hear Res. 2014 Apr 26; Authors: Shi X, Zhang F, Urdang Z, Dai M, Neng L, Zhang J, Chen S, Ramamoorthy S, Nuttall AL Abstract Normal microvessel structure and function in the cochlea is essential for maintaining the ionic and metabolic homeostasis required for hearing function. Abnormal cochlear microcirculation has long been considered an etiologic factor in hearing disorders. A better understanding of cochlear blood flow (CoBF) will enable more effective amelioration of hearing disorders that result from aberrant blood flow. However, establishing the direct relationship between CoBF and other cellular events in the lateral wall and response to physio-pathological stress remains a challenge due to the lack of feasible interrogation methods and difficulty in accessing the inner ear. Here we report on new methods for studying the CoBF in a mouse model using a thin or open vessel-window in combination with fluorescence intra-vital microscopy (IVM). An open vessel-window enables investigation of vascular cell biology and blood flow permeability, including pericyte (PC) contractility, bone marrow cell migration, and endothelial barrier leakage, in wild type and fluorescent protein-labeled transgenic mouse models with high spatial and temporal resolution. Alternatively, the thin vessel-window method minimizes disruption of the homeostatic balan...
Source: Hearing Research - Category: Audiology Authors: Tags: Hear Res Source Type: research