Follistatin regulates sonic hedgehog-dependent tonotopic organization of the apical cochlea responsible for low-frequency hearing

To show that FST cooperates with SHH to establish tonotopy by promoting apical cochlear characteristics responsible for low-frequency hearing in mammals, we analyzed cochlear gene expression, morphology, and auditory function of mouse mutants with loss or gain of SHH function in combination with loss or gain of follistatin (FST) function. Gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for 4-week-old control and Fst conditional Knock-out mutant mice cochlea cells divided into three regions along the tonotopic axis, base, middle, and apex.