Organ of Corti in the context of "Cochlear duct"

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates, and in the lateral line organ of fishes. Through mechanotransduction, hair cells detect movement in their environment.

In mammals, the auditory hair cells are located within the spiral organ of Corti on the thin basilar membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear. They derive their name from the tufts of stereocilia called hair bundles that protrude from the apical surface of the cell into the fluid-filled cochlear duct. The stereocilia number from fifty to a hundred in each cell while being tightly packed together and decrease in size the further away they are located from the kinocilium.

The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing, which is distributed along the partition separating the fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea.

A sustentacular cell is a type of cell primarily associated with structural support, they can be found in various tissues.

• Sustentacular cells of the olfactory epithelium (also called supporting cells or Sertoli cells) have been shown to be involved in the phagocytosis of dead neurons, odorant transformation and xenobiotic metabolism.
• One type of sustentacular cell is the Sertoli cell, in the testicle. It is located in the walls of the seminiferous tubules and supplies nutrients to sperm. They are responsible for the differentiation of spermatids, the maintenance of the blood-testis barrier, and the secretion of inhibin, androgen-binding protein and Müllerian-inhibiting factor.
• The organ of Corti in the inner ear and taste buds also contain sustentacular cells.
• Another type of sustentacular cell is found with glomus cells of the carotid and aortic bodies.
• About 40% of carcinoids have a scattering of sustentacular cells, which stain positive for S-100.