Fig. 8. Xevl depletion in hair cells disrupts spectrin localization and stereocilia formation. (A-D) Images of frozen sectioned embryos with dorsal oriented up and the otic vesicle on the right of each image. (A) Xevl is present in hair cells of the ventromedial sensory epithelium and is enriched at the apical aspect of these cells (arrow). (B) Xevl (red) and actin (phalloidin; green) colocalize at the apical region of hair cells (arrow) at the base of stereocilia. (C,D) Higher magnification view of Xevl localization in hair cells (arrows) showing the colocalization of Xevl (red) and actin (green) at the apical margin of the hair cells. (E,F) Image of a dissected otic vesicle showing that Xevl (E, red in F) localizes to the cuticular plate at the base of each actin-rich stereocilium (green in F). (G) Images of frozen sectioned embryos showing that spectrin is localized to the cuticular plate at the apical region of hair cells (arrow). (H) Spectrin (red) is at the base of each stereocilium and colocalizes with actin (green) at the apical membrane of hair cells in uninjected embryos. (I) In XevlMO-injected embryos, spectrin levels at the cuticular plate are markedly reduced and hair cells lose their columnar shape (arrowhead). (J) Xevl depletion also results in a reduction in actin staining (green) at the apical portion of hair cells and few stereocilia are present. Spectrin is shown in red in the merged image. Bars, 20 µm, except for E and F where bar, 5 µm.