Standardization of experimental animals temporal bone sections

• Published in: Journal of otology Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 66 - 71
• Main Authors: Ding, Dalian, Yu, Jintao, Li, Peng, Gao, Kelei, Jiang, Haiyan, Zhang, Wenjuan, Sun, Hong, Yin, Shankai, Salvi, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd 01.06.2015; Center for Hearing and Deafness, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA%Department of 0tolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Central South University Xiangya Hospital, Hunan, 410018, China%Department of 0tolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science&Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China%Department of 0tolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the Sixth People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200233, China; Chinese PLA General Hospital
• Subjects: Collodion embedding; Decalcification; Experimental animal; Original article; Temporal bone; Temporal bone section; 内淋巴囊; 实验动物; 标准化; 神经元; 神经节细胞; 组织学; 脱钙技术; 颞骨; Decalcification; Temporal bone; Experimental animal; Collodion embedding; Temporal bone section
• ISSN: 1672-2930; 2524-1753
• DOI: 10.1016/j.joto.2015.08.001

Preparation of the temporal bone for light microscopy is an important step in histological studies of the inner ear. Due to the complexity of structures of the inner ear, it is difficult to measure or compare structures of interest without a commonly accepted standardized measure of temporal bone sections. Therefore, standardization of temporal bone sections is very important for histological assessment of sensory hair cells and peripheral ganglion neurons in the cochlear and vestibular systems. The standardized temporal bone sectioning is oriented to a plane parallel to the outer and internal auditory canals. Sections are collected from the epitympanum to the hypotympanum to reveal layers in the order of the crista ampullaris of the superior and lateral semicircular canals, macula utriculi and macula sacculi, superior vestibular ganglion neurons, macula of saccule and inferior vestibular ganglion neurons, cochlear modiolus, endolymphatic duct and endolymphatic sac, and finally the crista ampullaris of the posterior semicircular canal. Moreover, technical details of preparing for temporal bone sectioning including fixation, decalcification, whole temporal bone staining, embedding penetration, and embedding orientation are also discussed.