Development of a serum-free culture method for endothelial cells of stria vascularis and their pro-inflammatory secretome changes induced by oxidative stress

Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the stria vascularis (SV) of cochlea can be induced by such stimulations as noise exposure, which is considered as one of the key factors that responsible for the pathogenesis of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). However, the effects of oxidative stress on endothelial cells of SV (SV-ECs) remain largely unknown and there is currently no feasible in vitro cell culture model for the function study of SV-ECs.Methods: We isolated primary SV-ECs from stria vascularis of neonatal mice. The effects of fibronectin in reducing the apoptosis of SV-ECs cultured with serum-free medium were determined by using