“An Investigation of Otoloxin-Induced Changes in the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Auditory System”
John U. Ramcharitar, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686

Recently, in vivo assays involving the lateral line of the zebrafish have been successfully adopted for drug ototoxicity screening. This is accomplished by examination of canal neuromast morphology in treated larvae. To-date however, the effects of human ototoxins on the auditory system of this species have not been elucidated, although the inner ear of other teleosts have clearly demonstrated impairment by gentamicin. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to quantify the impact of several known human ototoxins (gentamicin, neomycin, cisplatin) on the auditory system of the zebrafish. The proposed work seeks to determine the time courses of ototoxin-induced changes in sensory hair cell density and morphology, as well as physiological shifts in hearing sensitivity. In the long term, this research will likely support the use of the zebrafish auditory system alongside the lateral line system for assessing ototoxicity.

John U. Ramcharitar, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Department of Biology
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary’s City, MD 20686
Phone: (240) 895-2098
Fax: (240) 895-4996
Email: juramcharitar@smcm.edu