Afferents to vestibular epithelia are reduced and disorganized.

<p>Neural crest-derived Sox10 positive cells play a guidance function in the vestibular innervation of the ear. Compared with control mice of E18.5 (A), Sox10 conditional mutants show a reduced innervation to the canal cristae(B, D) and disorganized fibers routing from one canal crista to another and occasionally to nowhere (B, D). Note the smaller size of epithelia and fiber projections in the younger Sox10 mutant (B). Abbreviations: PC, posterior crista; AC, anterior crista; HC, horizontal crista; U, utricle. Bar indicates 100 μm.