Optimizing Factors in Murine Whole Organ Cochlea Culture

In 2008, Hahn et al. presented a method for cultivating a 3D organ culture of the cochlea. Although this method is well established, it is currently only applied to early postnatal animals. Given the known differences in regeneration and repair abilities between early postnatal and adult mammalian cochleae, our goal was to further develop and optimize this method to extend it beyond early postnatal animals to include adult mammalian cochleae. After rapidly dissecting the cochlea, it is opened and placed in a neurotrophin-containing culture medium. The culture is then maintained at 32°C in a rotating bioreactor for 24 hours. The combination of mild hypothermia (32°C), quick cochlea dissection, and the addition of 10 ng/ml of BDNF and 5 ng/ml of NT-3 to the culture medium ensures complete cell survival of all cochlear cell types in 10-day-old mice. The modifications to the established method include the incorporation of neurotrophins (BDNF and NT-3) into the culture medium and cultivation under mild hypothermic conditions (32°C). By introducing neurotrophins and cultivating at 32°C, a 3D organ culture of the cochlea can also be established with 10-day-old mice. This in vitro model preserves all cochlear cell types under conditions similar to those found in vivo.