Epithelial migration on the tympanic membrane. An experimental study.

The existence of an epidermal migration pattern was studied in mice using a whole-mount autoradiographical technique. The mitotic activity appeared to be confined to an area close to the annulus tympanicus. A very slow migratory activity of the labelled cells, was observed, situated in the basal cell layer. Perforation of the tympanic membrane showed no effect on the position of the labelled cells. This slow migration described by several authors. The latter migration was suggested to represent a mechanism for cleaning the tympanic membrane.