Disruption and restoration of cell–cell junctions in mouse vestibular epithelia following aminoglycoside treatment

Abstract The intracellular junction complexes, which consist of tight junctions (TJ), adherens junctions (AJ), and desmosomes, mediate cell–cell adhesion in epithelial cells. E-cadherin, which is a major component of AJ, plays a role not only in the maintenance of cell–cell junctions, but also in repressing cell proliferation. In this study, we examined changes of E-cadherin expression in mouse vestibular epithelia following local application of neomycin using immunohistochemistry and western blotting, and morphology of cell–cell junctions by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Immunohistochemistry and western blotting revealed down-expression of E-cadherin and its consecutive recovery. TEM demonstrated temporal disruption of cell–cell junctions. Morphology of cell–cell junctions was more rapidly restored than recovery of E-cadherin expression. Transient disruption of cell–cell junctions and down-expression of E-cadherin is a rational response for the deletion of dying hair cells, and may be associated with a limited capacity for cell proliferations in mammalian vestibular epithelia following their rapid restoration.