title: Stiffness of hair bundles in the chick cochlea.
abstract: The stiffness of hair bundles from isolated chick cochlear hair cells was measured in tissue culture medium. A water jet was used to deflect fiberglass fibers, quartz fibers, and hair bundles of isolated hair cells. A voltage-displacement curve was generated for a water jet ramp stimulus applied to miniature fiberglass and quartz fibers. Fiber displacements were measured using video image subtraction techniques. A force-voltage calibration curve was then derived for the fibers by modelling them as cantilever beams subjected to point forces at the tips. A voltage-displacement curve was then generated for isolated hair cell stereociliary bundles using the same procedure as for the fibers. A corresponding force-displacement curve was derived for isolated hair cells under water jet stimulation by correlating maximum ramp voltage from the hair cell's voltage-displacement curve to a corresponding force applied to a fiber from the fiberglass fiber calibration curve. The stiffness of the hair bundle, which is the slope of the hair cell's force-displacement curve, was then calculated using Hooke's law, assuming the force was distributed along the entire length of the hair bundle. The mean stiffness value was 5.04 +/- 2.68 x 10(-4) N/m for 14 hair cells, and was in close agreement with previously reported stiffness values of several investigators utilizing different animal models and procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Szymko
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Dimitri
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D002645:Chickens; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology*; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D008433:Mathematics; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water