Sound-evoked tonic motility of cochlear outer hair cells in mice with stereociliary defects.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian hearing sensitivity depends on the amplification of sound-induced cochlear vibrations by outer hair cells (OHCs). OHCs transduce deflections of their stereociliary bundles into receptor potentials that drive changes in cell length. While fast, phasic OHC length changes are thought to generate the forces that underlie cochlear amplification, OHCs also exhibit large tonic length changes in response to sound. These tonic length changes could theoretically arise from asymmetries in the mechanotransduction process that lead to tonic changes in membrane potential, though their exact origins and functional significance are uncertain. Here, in vivo cochlear vibration measurements reveal that sound can elicit tonic OHC motility in mice with stereociliary defects that eliminate cochlear am

SUBMITTER: Dewey JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12318206 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature