An anatomical and day–night atlas links cochlear immunity to adjacent bone marrow
The cochlea lies within marrow-bearing bone. How this neighbouring marrow relates to cochlear immunity and daily physiology remains poorly resolved. We profiled 160,643 cells from mouse cochlea and adjacent temporal-bone marrow at six times of day, with rhythm inference calibrated for one pooled sample per time. Three-dimensional confocal reconstruction mapped vascular connections between marrow and cochlea and localized neutrophils along this interface. Neutrophils also occupied healthy cochlear fluids. Parabiosis findings were consistent with a local marrow contribution to cochlear immunity. Structural cochlear cells maintained synchronized, light-entrained clocks. Cochlear neutrophil programmes aligned with circulating neutrophils and opposed those in marrow, with independent flow cytometry supporting daily changes in immune composition and CXCR4. A shared night-associated heat-shock programme was attenuated after noise in an independent cohort. These anatomical and temporal data provide a reference for testing local marrow supply and the origins of cochlear immune rhythms.
Authors
- Ruoyun He
- Junmin Huang
- Chunjie Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7582-873X)
- Joe Yeong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6674-7153)
- Han Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7347-3763)
- Junfeng Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8209-5247)
- Hongyu Ning
- Yao Cai
- Dexiao Zeng
- Ye Tian
- Yue Xu
- Weibang Chen
- Shuangjie Dai
- Xiaoyu Liu
- Yekang Mo
- Yusu Ni
- Huafeng Liu
Institutions
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
- Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University (CN)
- Guangdong Medical College (CN)
- Singapore General Hospital (SG)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Singapore Immunology Network (SG)
- Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University (CN)
- Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College Hospital (CN)
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (SG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-11-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.31.763358
- Primary Topic
- Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics
- Type
- preprint