Fig. 6

Distribution of CSPGs, HAPLN1, HAPLN4 and tenascin-R in cochlear whole-mount preparations of bcan^−/− mice. a, b Aggrecan labeling (ACAN, green) yielded a strong immunosignal in the spiral limbus (SL) in both bcan^+/+ (a) and bcan^−/− mice (b). At IHCs, aggrecan was only detectable in bcan^+/+ but not in bcan^−/− organs of Corti (magnification of 4–5 IHCs in the insets). c, d Neurocan (green) could be visualized at the base of IHCs in wildtype mice (c) but was absent at IHCs of bcan^−/− mice (d). e, f The immunoreactivity of HAPLN1 (green) is strongly reduced at IHCs in brevican-deficient mice (f) compared to wildtype mice (e). g, h The positive immunosignal of HAPLN4 (green) at the base of IHCs in wildtype mice (g) was absent in bcan^−/− mice (h). i, j The immunosignal of tenascin-R (green) at the base of IHCs in wildtype mice (i) was absent in bcan^−/− mice (j). Maximum intensity projections of confocal stacks of stretches of 30–40 IHCs (a, b) or 6–7 IHCs (c–j) of cochlea whole-mount preparations with nuclei stained with DAPI (a, b, e–j, blue) or with IHCs labeled by an anti-vGlut3 antibody (c, d, blue). Exemplary IHCs are indicated by the dashed outline. a, b scale 25 μm, insets 5 μm, c-j scale 5 μm