抄録
Isolated vestibular hair cells are thought to be a very useful tool for the study of vestibular function. However, very little work has been done yet, especially in mammalian species. In 1989 Valat et al first described a technique for the isolation of vestibular hair cells from guinea pigs. We used their technique and studied the morphology of isolated vestibular hair cells.
Vestibular hair cells were isolated from the macula sacculi, macula utriculi and cristae ampullaris of guinea pigs by enzymatic and mechanical dissociation. These isolated cells were classified into three types: flask-shaped cells, rod-shaped cells and round cells. The flask-shaped cells, which had a flask-shaped cell body, so-called neck, cuticular plate, sensory hairs and sometimes the remains of a nerve calyx, were obtained more readily from cristae ampullaris than from other vestibular sensory organs. The rod-shaped or round cells, which had a rod-shaped or round cell body without a neck, were often isolated from the macula sacculi and macula utriculi. The histological findings of the vestibular hair cells suggested that the flask-shaped cells are type I cells and that the rod-shaped cells are type II cells, while the round cells might be damaged type I or type II cells.
