The effect of stereocilia bundle position on receptor potential characteristics of isolated outer hair cells in the guinea pig.
The receptor potential as a function of pre-stimulus position of the stereocilia was studied with the whole cell patch-clamp technique in isolated outer hair cells (OHC) during direct mechanical stimulation of the stereocilia (n = 6, cells ranging from 70-87 microm length). The amplitude and frequency of the stimulation was 1 microm and 100 Hz. Controlled pre-stimulus stereocilia displacements in the excitatory direction were followed by sustained membrane depolarization and a diminution of the DC component of the receptor potential. Spectral analysis has shown that recordings with most diminished DC components had a pronounced fundamental while the other harmonics were suppressed, indicating the linearization of the receptor potential. The observed non-lineararities depended on the resting position of the stereocilia and seemed to be determined by the operating range of the transduction process.
Shvarev
Y N
YN
Behavioral Phenogenetics Laboratory, Institute for Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk. yuri.shvarev@fyfa.ki.se
Canlon
B
B
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D018072:Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques