Research Article Epithelial supporting cells can differentiate into outer hair cells and Deiters' cells in the cultured organ of Corti

The organ of Corti is a complex structure con- taining a single row of inner hair cells (IHCs) and three rows of outer hair cells (OHCs), supported respectively by one row of inner phalangeal cells and three rows of Deiters' cells. When fetal rat organ of Corti explants are cultured, supernumerary OHCs and supernumerary Deit- ers' cells are produced, without any additional cell prolif- eration. Analysis of semi- and ultrathin sections revealed that supernumerary OHCs are produced at the distal edge of the organ of Corti. Quantitative analysis of cell types present in the organ of Corti demonstrates that when the number of OHCs increases: (i) the total number of cells