At E14.5, Hmga2 is expressed in the developing inner ear sensory epithelia of the cochlea (A–B) and the vestibule (C).

<p>In the cochlea, Hmga2 (shown in blue) is co-expressed with Sox2 (shown in green) expressing-cells in the organ of Corti. Hmga2 expression colocalized with Sox2 in the prosensory domain and no sign of hair cell differentiation at the apical cochlear turn at this stage of maturation (A). The spiral ganglion is immunostained by Parvalbumin while Hmga2 signal is not obvious. In the mid-cochlear turn (B), Parvalbumin (shown in red) labeled the differentiating inner hair cell (IHC) and the spiral ganglion where it is colocalized with Sox2. In the developing vestibule, Hmga2 (C, Blue) immunolabeling partially overlapped with Parvalbumin (C, red) in the hair cells at the lumenal layer and with Sox2 (C, green) in the supporting cells at the basal layer of the anterior crista. The cells located in the extrastriolar regions showed a strong Hmga2 signal (arrows). Parvalbumin labels both hair cells and ganglion neurons in the cochlea and vestibule. spiral ganglion (sg); vestibular ganglion (vg); stria vascularis (sv). Scale bars = 100 µm in all panels.