Molecular heterogeneity of the non-human primate cochlea

Unraveling the intricate composition and function of the cochlea is paramount to comprehending the mechanisms underlying sound perception and the pathogenesis of auditory disorders. The mammalian cochlea displays a highly organized structure, which contributes to the diversity and complexity of auditory processing. However, the cellular intricacies in non-human primates remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we employed high-throughput transcriptomic sequencing to profile over 36,701 nuclei across virtually all cochlear cell types in both juvenile and adult Macaca fascicularis at single-cell resolution. Our analysis unveiled remarkable heterogeneity both across and within cell types. Despite a largely conserved cellular composition of the cochlea between mouse and macaque species, glial cells exhibited substantial species-specific diversity, while hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons with specialized transcriptional programs were well-mapped onto their murine counterparts, underscoring the similarities that persist despite evolutionary divergence. Furthermore, we constructed a disease map associated with hearing loss, establishing this transcriptomic atlas of the macaque cochlea as an indispensable resource for future investigations in both human and non-human primates.