Isolation and Culture of Primary Cochlear Hair Cells from Neonatal Mice

Cochlear hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system. These cells are located in the organ of Corti, the sensory organ responsible for hearing, within the osseous labyrinth of the inner ear. Cochlear hair cells consist of two anatomically and functionally distinct types: outer and inner hair cells. Damage to either of them results in hearing loss. Notably, as inner hair cells cannot regenerate, and damage to them is permanent. Hence, in vitro cultivation of primary hair cells is indispensable for investigating the protective or regenerative effects of cochlear hair cells. This study aimed to discover a method for isolating and cultivating mouse hair cells.

After manual removal of the cochlear lateral wall, the auditory epithelium was meticulously dissected from the cochlear modiolus under a microscope, incubated in a mixture consisting of 0.25% trypsin-EDTA for 10 min at 37 °C, and gently suspended in culture medium using a 200 µL pipette tip. The cell suspension was passed through a cell filter, the filtrate was centrifuged, and cells were cultured in 24-well plates. Hair cells were identified based on their capacity to express a mechanotransduction complex, myosin-VIIa, which is involved in motor tensions, and via selective labeling of F-actin using phalloidin. Cells reached >90% confluence after 4 d in culture. This method can enhance our understanding of the biological characteristics of in vitro cultured hair cells and demonstrate the efficiency of cochlear hair cell cultures, establishing a solid methodological foundation for further auditory research.