Abbreviations

 A/J Albino inbreed mice strain (The  DMEM Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s Jackson laboratory) medium  ABR Auditory brain response  DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide  AKT v-Akt murine thymoma viral  DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid oncogene homologue  DNR Dominant negative  ATOH1 Atonal homologue 1  dNTPs Dinucleotide triphosphates  B27 Brewer neurobasal serum-free  Dox Doxycycline supplement  dsRNA Double stranded RNA  BCA Bicinchoninic acid  DTT Dithiothreitol  BDNF Brain derived neurotrophic  ECL Enhanced Chemiluminiscence factor  EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid  bFGF Basic Fibroblast growth factor  EPHA Ephrin type-A receptor  BglIII Bacillus globigii restriction  EpiSCs Epiblast Stem Cells enzyme II  ERK Extracellular regulated kinase  BMP Bone morphogenetic  ESCs Embryonic Stem Cells  Brn3a Brain 3-A  EYA Eyes absent homologue family  BSA Bovine serum albumin  F12 Ham’s nutrient mixture F12  CAG Cytomegalovirus, chicken β-actin  FBS Foetal bovine serum and rabbit β-globin promoter  FGF Fibroblast growth factor family  CD133 Cluster of differentiation 133  FGFR Fibroblast growth factor (Prominin1) receptor family  cDNA Complementary DNA  FGFR1IIIb FGFR1 isoform IIIb  CMV Cytomegalovirus  FGFR2IIIb FGFR2 isoform IIIb  CSCB Centre for Stem Cell Biology  FITC Fluorescein isothiocyanate  Ct Cycle threshold  FOXG1 Forkhead box G1  DFNB DMEM, F12, N2 and B27 media  Foxi1 Forkhead box I1 formulation  G418 Geneticin  DLX Distal less family  GAPDH Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

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 GATA3 GATA binding protein 3  mESCs Mouse embryonic stem cells  GBX2 Gastrulation brain homeobox 2  mMSCs Mouse mesenchymal stem  GFP Green fluorescent protein cells  GSK3β Glycogen synthase kinase 3  MMTV Murine mammary tumour beta virus  HEK293 Human embryonic kidney 293  mRNA messenger RNA cell line  MSX1 Msh homeobox homologue 1  hESCs Human embryonic stem cells  NCBI National Center for  hiPSCs Human induced pluripotent Biotechnology Information stem cells  neo Aminoglycoside 3’-  hMSCs Human mesenchymal stem phosphotransferase cells  NeuroD Neuronal differentiation  HNK1 Human natural killer 1  Ngn1 Neurogenin 1  HPRT Hypoxanthine  NIH-3T3 NIH/Swiss embryonic phosphoribosyltransferase 1 fibroblast “3 day transfer 3x10⁵”  HSCs Hematopoietic stem cells  NotI Nocardia otitidis-cavarium  HSPG Heparan sulphate proteoglycans restriction enzyme I  IGF-1 Insulin-like growth factor 1  NT3 Neurotrophin 3  Ig-III Third immunoglobulin-like  NTERA Human testis embryonal domain carcinoma cell line  IIIb Isoform “b” of Ig-III in FGFR  OCT4 Octamer-binding protein 4  Iliac Isoform “C” of Ig-III in FGFR  OTX2  KO Knockout  P75 Nerve growth factor receptor  LEF Lymphoid enhancing binding  PAX Paired box family factor  PBS Phosphate buffered saline  LFNG beta-1,3-N-  PBS/T Phosphate buffered saline, acetylglucosaminyltransferase lunatic 0.1% Triton X-100 fringe  PCR Polymerase chain reaction  LIF Leukaemia inhibitory factor  PI3K Phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase  LTR Long terminal repeat  PKR Protein kinase RNA-activated  MEFs Mouse embryonic fibroblasts  PLCγ Phospholipase C gamma

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 PNK Polynucleotide 5’-hydroxyl-kinase  SSEA Stage specific embryonic antigen  PPR Preplacodal region  ST2 Bone marrow derived stromal cell  pSUPERIOR Suppression of line endogenous RNA inducible plasmid  STAT Signal transducer and activator vector of transcription  Q-PCR Quantitative PCR  SU5402 VEGFR and FGFR inhibitor  RAS Rat sarcoma viral oncogene family  TBE 1X Tris-HCL, boric acid and EDTA  RIPA Radioimmunoprecipitation assay electrophoresis buffer 1X buffer  TBST Tris buffered saline with Tween  RNA Ribonucleic acid  TCF T-cell specific  ROCK Rho-associated, coiled-coil-  Tet Tetracycline containing protein kinase  TetR Tetracycline repressor  RPLP0 Ribosomal protein, large, P0  TGFβ Transforming growth factor β  SAG Statoacoustic ganglion  TRA1-60 Human pluripotent stem cell  SB431542 TGF-β RI kinase inhibitor VI specific antibody “Trafalgar”  SDS Sodium dodecyl sulphate  TRKB Tyrosine kinase receptor B  SEM Scanning electron microscopy  TRKC Tyrosine kinase receptor C  SHH Sonic hedgehog  WB Washing buffer  shRNA Short hairpin RNA  WNT Wingless-type MMTV integration  siRNA Small interfering RNA site family  SIX Sine oculis homeobox homologue  XhoI Xanthomonas holcicola  SMAD4 Mothers against restriction enzyme I decapentaplegic homologue 4  Y27632 Inhibitor of Rho-associated  Sex determining region Y (SRY) kinases box 2

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