A membrane-based force generation mechanism in auditory sensory cells.
Auditory outer hair cells can elongate and shorten at acoustic frequencies in response to changes of plasma membrane potential. We show that this fast bidirectional contractile activity consists of an electromechanical transduction process that occurs at the lateral plasma membrane and can be activated and analyzed independently in small membrane patches inside a patch electrode. Bidirectional forces are generated by increases and decreases in membrane area in response to hyperpolarization and depolarization, respectively. We suggest that the force generation mechanism is driven by voltage-dependent conformational changes within a dense array of large transmembrane proteins associated with the site of electromechanical transduction.
Kalinec
F
F
Laboratory of Cellular Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Holley
M C
MC
Iwasa
K H
KH
Lim
D J
DJ
Kachar
B
B
D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D015398:Signal Transduction