Figure 6

Hypothyroidism increases sensitivity of supporting cells to actin disruption. (A) Representative confocal z-projections of whole mount explants treated at P0 with Latrunculin A show decreased phalloidin immunofluorescence relative to vehicle control. (B) In controls, average Young’s modulus (mean ± s.e.m. kPa) of outer hair cells (OHCs, black) is significantly decreased with Latrunculin A treatment, while pillar cells (PCs, blue) are not significantly different from Latrunculin A treatment at P0 (**p-value < 0.01). (C) Hypothyroid OHCs also have a decreased Young’s modulus in treated conditions relative to vehicle control (*p-value < 0.05). (D) In contrast with controls, in which Latrunculin A treatment did not affect PC Young’s modulus, hypothyroid PCs have a significant decrease in stiffness when treated with Latrunculin A (***p-value < 0.001).