Protocol for in vivo elimination of avian auditory hair cells, multiplexed mRNA detection, immunohistochemistry, and S-phase labeling.

The avian inner ear can naturally regenerate sensory hair cells and is therefore an ideal candidate for investigating mechanisms leading to hair cell regeneration and functional recovery. Here, we present a surgical protocol for eliminating auditory hair cells via sisomicin injection into the lateral semicircular canal. We describe steps for multiplex mRNA detection in chicken basilar papilla and utricle sections.

A novel pattern of germ cell divisions in the production of hymenopteran insect eggs.

Egg development is a defining process of reproduction in higher eukaryotes. In the fruit fly, , this process begins with four mitotic divisions starting from a single germ cell, producing a cyst of 16 cystocytes; one of these cells will become the oocyte and the others supporting nurse cells. These mitotic divisions are exceptional because cytokinesis is incomplete, resulting in the formation of cytoplasmic bridges known as ring canals that interconnect the cystocytes.