The 3-dimensional organization of the sensory epithelium of the cochlea in birds

Using authors' original approach to studying histoarchitecture of cellular layers three-dimensional structure of bird helix sensory epithelium was studied theoretically and experimentally. The composition of its elementary morphofunctional unit, AB3 (one sensory cell per three supporting cells) was established. Three dimensional model of this unit was worked out that described shape and arrangement of cells at apical, basal and intermediate levels of the layer. The presence of its translation symmetry was demonstrated. Comparison of theoretical model and results of morphological research of sensory epithelium allowed to conclude that the model corresponds with the real tissue. The model assists in three-dimensional reconstruction of sensory epithelium. And allows to deal with minimum number of sections and also gives an opportunity to forecast its developmental changes.