Ear pinna growth and differentiation is conserved in murids and requires BMP signaling for chondrocyte proliferation

Robyn S. Allen, Shishir K. Biswas, Ashley W. Seifert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite being a major target of reconstructive surgery, development of the ear pinna remains poorly studied. Here, we provide a cellular characterization of late gestational and postnatal ear pinna development in two rodents and investigate the role of BMP5 in expansion and differentiation of auricular elastic cartilage. We find that ear pinna development is largely conserved between Mus musculus and the highly regenerative Acomys dimidiatus. The pattern of pre-cartilaginous cells is established early in development. These cells are specified into chondroblasts before ear unfolding and then undergo extensive proliferation before maturation. The elastic cartilage, connective tissue fibroblasts, dermal papilla and sheath cells, and adipocytes in the adult pinna are derived from cranial neural crest. Cellular analysis using the naturally occurring short ear mouse mutant shows that loss of BMP5 does not prevent specification of chondroblasts, but does impair chondroblast proliferation. Finally, chondroblast proliferation remains impaired in the adult mid-distal ear pinna of these mutants. Together, these data establish the developmental basis for differentiation of ear pinna tissues.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberDEV204560
JournalDevelopment (Cambridge)
Volume152
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025. Published by The Company of Biologists.

Funding

We thank all members of the Seifert lab for insightful discussions, and Adam Cook and Joshua Sarli for animal husbandry. We also thank the University of Kentucky, Department of Arts and Sciences Imaging Center. Some of the text and figures in this paper formed part of Shishir Biswas\u2019s PhD thesis from the University of Kentucky, Department of Biology in 2021. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) (IOS-1353713) and from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) (R01AR070313) to A.W.S. Open access funding provided by University of Kentucky. Deposited in PMC for immediate release.

FundersFunder number
Department of Arts and Sciences Imaging Center
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China
University of Kentucky
Population Media Center
Office of International Science and EngineeringIOS-1353713
Office of International Science and Engineering
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin DiseasesR01AR070313
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

    Keywords

    • Acomys
    • BMP5
    • Cell lineage
    • Ear pinna
    • Elastic cartilage
    • Neural crest cells
    • Short ear

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Molecular Biology
    • Developmental Biology

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