July 06, 2026, 14:00 CET

with

Prof. Dr. Peter Wieghofer

Professorship of Cellular Neuroanatomy

Anatomy and Cell Biology

University of Augsburg, Germany

Location: In person in the Seminar Room and online via Zoom

Link and password upon request
Please write an e-mail to: seminar.umweltmedizin@med.uni-augsburg.de

Title: "Single-cell, spatial, and fate-mapping analyses uncover heterogeneous cochlear myeloid cell populations with distinct functions “

Abstract:

The cochlea, the organ responsible for transducing sound waves into electrical signals, is vital for
hearing. Once considered immune-privileged, the cochlea has since been found to contain tissue-resident
macrophages whose molecular diversity, origins, and functions remain poorly defined. By combining unbiased
single-cell RNA-sequencing, fate mapping, and parabiosis experiments, we identified and quantified five
distinct myeloid cell populations in the mature mouse cochlea: three macrophage subpopulations, which are
suggested to be conserved in humans, as well as dendritic cells and monocytes. We further demonstrated that
cochlear macrophages were partially derived from yolk sac progenitors during development. Cochlear
macrophages were primarily long-term resident in adult mice, except in the compartments of spiral lamina and
spiral limbus where they were replenished by circulating monocytes. Using two aged mouse strains, we found
that an increase in subsets of cochlear macrophages was associated with hearing loss. Moreover, selective
depletion of specific macrophage subpopulations revealed distinct roles in cochlear inner hair cell synapse
formation and hearing. Together, our findings reveal the unique immunological landscape of the cochlea,
uncovering previously unappreciated macrophage heterogeneity, suggesting important roles in cochlear
development, homeostasis, and age-related hearing loss.