Gene Expression from hair cells and supporting cells in chick utricle

In adult mammals, hair cell loss is irreversible and may result in hearing and balance deficits. In contrast, birds can regenerate hair cells through differentiation of supporting cells and restore inner ear function, suggesting that hair cell progenitors are present in the population of supporting cells. We used microarrays to identify novel genes related to the regeneration in the chicken utricle. Supporting cell and hair cell populations of chicken utricle obtained by laser capture microdissection, following to do RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.