Purinergic P2 receptors, activated by endogenous ATP, are prominently expressed on neuronal and non-neuronal cells during development of the auditory periphery and central auditory neurons. In the mature cochlea, extracellular ATP contributes to ion homeostasis, and has a protective function against noise exposure. Here, we focus on the modulation of activity by extracellular ATP during early postnatal development of the lower auditory pathway. In mammals, spontaneous patterned activity is conveyed along afferent auditory pathways before the onset of acoustically evoked signal processing. During this critical developmental period, inner hair cells fire bursts of action potentials that are believed to provide a developmental code for synaptic maturation and refinement of auditory circuits, thereby establishing a precise tonotopic organization. Endogenous ATP-release triggers such patterned activity by raising the extracellular K⁺ concentration and contributes to firing by increasing the excitability of auditory nerve fibers, spiral ganglion neurons, and specific neuron types within the auditory brainstem, through the activation of diverse P2 receptors. We review recent studies that provide new models on the contribution of purinergic signaling to early development of the afferent auditory pathway. Further, we discuss potential future directions of purinergic research in the auditory system.

由内源性 ATP 激活的嘌呤能 P2 受体在听觉外周和中枢听觉神经元发育期间在神经元和非神经元细胞上显着表达。在成熟的耳蜗中，细胞外 ATP 有助于离子稳态，并具有防止噪声暴露的保护功能。在这里，我们专注于在下听觉通路的出生后早期发育过程中细胞外 ATP 对活动的调节。在哺乳动物中，自发的模式化活动在声学诱发信号处理开始之前沿着传入听觉通路传递。在这个关键的发育时期，内毛细胞会激发动作电位的爆发，这些动作电位被认为为突触成熟和听觉回路的细化提供了发育密码，从而建立了精确的音调组织。⁺集中并通过激活不同的 P2 受体来增加听觉神经纤维、螺旋神经节神经元和听觉脑干内特定神经元类型的兴奋性，从而促进放电。我们回顾了最近的研究，这些研究提供了嘌呤能信号对传入听觉通路早期发育的贡献的新模型。此外，我们讨论了听觉系统中嘌呤能研究的潜在未来方向。