Mechanistic Basis of Otolith Formation during Teleost Inner Ear Development
Abstract
Otoliths, which are connected to stereociliary bundles in the inner ear, serve as inertial sensors for balance. In teleostei, otolith development is critically dependent on flow forces generated by beating cilia; however, the mechanism by which flow controls otolith formation remains unclear. Here, we have developed a noninvasive flow probe using optical tweezers and a viscous flow model in order to demonstrate how the observed hydrodynamics influence otolith assembly. We show that rotational flow stirs and suppresses precursor agglomeration in the core of the cilia-driven vortex. The velocity field correlates with the shape of the otolith and we provide evidence that hydrodynamics is actively involved in controlling otolith morphogenesis. An implication of this hydrodynamic effect is that otolith self-assembly is mediated by the balance between Brownian motion and cilia-driven flow. More generally, this flow feature highlights an alternative biological strategy for controlling particle localization in solution.
Additional Information
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Received: August 10, 2010. Revised: October 13, 2010. Accepted: November 27, 2010. Published: February 14, 2011. We are grateful to the Fraser and the Phillips laboratory for stimulating discussions and help throughout the course of the project. We thank K. Hill, D. Riveline, and A. Vilfan for thoughtful comments on the manuscript. We are grateful to R. Phillips, H. J. Lee, L. Trinh, K. Hill, and M. Liebling for sharing reagents. We also want to thank the IGBMC, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire for assistance. J.V. is supported by the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), D.W. was supported by the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program at UCLA/Caltech.Attached Files
Accepted Version - nihms-261444.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC4556435
- Eprint ID
- 23104
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110324-144927475
- Human Frontier Science Program
- NIH Medical Scientist Training Program at UCLA/Caltech
- Created
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2011-03-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field