Neuron

Neuron

Volume 7, Issue 6, December 1991, Pages 985-994
Journal home page for Neuron

Article
Tip-link integrity and mechanical transduction in vertebrate hair cells

https://doi.org/10.1016/0896-6273(91)90343-XGet rights and content

Abstract

An attractive hypothesis for hair-cell transduction is that fine, filamentous “tip links” pull directly on mechanically sensitive ion channels located at the tips of the stereocilia. We tested the involvement of tip links in the transduction process by treating bundles with a BAPTAbuffered, low-Ca2+ saline (10−9 M). BAPTA abolished the transduction current in a few hundred milliseconds. BAPTA treatment for a few seconds eliminated the tip links observed by either scanning or transmission electron microscopy. BAPTA also eliminated the voltagedependent movement and caused a positive bundle displacement of 133 nm, in quantitative agreement with a model for regulation of tension. We conclude that tip links convey tension to the transduction channels of hair cells.

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    • Cited by (0)

    †

    Present address: Department of Physiology and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642.

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    Copyright © 1991