Prospects for immunocytochemical studies of the labyrinth

Immunocytochemistry, when used with traditional and other modern techniques, offers great promise as a tool for cytochemically characterizing cells and their processes in the normal and pathological labyrinth. The strength of assertions regarding results of such studies is proportional to the degree to which antibodies are characterized, a limitation that has often been neglected in studies of the labyrinth. Examples are given to demonstrate the degree of species variability of cytochemically distinct efferent fibers in the cochlea, and to demonstrate how readily new information can be obtained when appropriate antibodies are available.