title: Imaging by atomic force microscopy of the plasma membrane of prestin-transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells.
abstract: The high sensitivity of mammalian hearing is achieved by amplification of the motion of the cochlear partition. This cochlear amplification is thought to be generated by the elongation and contraction of outer hair cells (OHCs) in response to acoustical stimulation. This motility is made possible by a membrane protein embedded in the lateral membrane of OHCs. Although a fructose transporter, GLUT-5, was initially proposed to be this protein, a later study identified the gene of the motor protein distributed throughout the OHC plasma membrane. This protein has been named "prestin." However, although previous morphological studies by electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) found the lateral wall of OHCs to be covered with 10-nm particles, believed to be motor proteins, it is unknown whether such particles consist only of prestin or are a complex of GLUT-5 and prestin molecules. To determine if the 10-nm particles are indeed constituted only of prestin, plasma membranes of prestin-transfected and untransfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which do not express GLUT-5, were observed by AFM. First, the cells attached to a substrate were sonicated so that only the plasma membrane remained on the substrate. The cytoplasmic face of the cell was observed by the tapping mode of the AFM in liquid. As a result, particle-like structures were recognized on the plasma membranes of both the prestin-transfected and untransfected CHO cells. Comparison of the difference in the frequency distribution of these structures between those two cells showed approximately 75% of the particle-like structures with a diameter of 8-12 nm in the prestin-transfected CHO cells to be possibly constituted only by prestin molecules. Our data suggest that the densely packed 10-nm particles observed on the OHC lateral wall are likely to be constituted only of prestin molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aoba-yama, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakoshi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gomi
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumano
authors.forename: Kouhei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsumoto
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kumagai
authors.forename: Katsuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Toshimitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D027321:Anion Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016466:CHO Cells; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D051296:Glucose Transporter Type 5 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018072:Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D000076988:Sulfate Transporters; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D027321:Anion Transport Proteins; D051296:Glucose Transporter Type 5; C498719:SLC26A5 protein, human; D000076988:Sulfate Transporters