Email Correspondance

Inner ear is an important organ that is responsible for balance and hearing. It is composed of two complicated major subunits, vestibular organ and cochlea. During development, both functional units require complex genetic interactions to achieve proper patterning and morphology as its purpose. This review comprises three parts. In the first part, general information about technical tools in studying mouse ear development is introduced. In the second part, it is shown how sem-icircular canals are formed and what genetic interaction is involved in canal formation. In the last part, genetic interactions required for proper development of cochlea are elaborated, focusing on the length of cochlea and morphology of organ of Corti. The study about development of mutant mice provides us useful information about genetic interaction involved in the formation of struc-tures for hearing and balance. The data acquired in the development field could provide a break-through to hair cell regeneration and stem cell therapy fields in stuck, which are directly appli-cable to human. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2010;53:265-7