Conductance and block of hair-cell mechanotransducer channels in transmembrane channel-like protein mutants.

ABSTRACT: Transmembrane channel-like (TMC) proteins TMC1 and TMC2 are crucial to the function of the mechanotransducer (MT) channel of inner ear hair cells, but their precise function has been controversial. To provide more insight, we characterized single MT channels in cochlear hair cells from wild-type mice and mice with mutations in Tmc1, Tmc2, or both. Channels were recorded in whole-cell mode after tip link destruction with BAPTA or after attenuating the MT current with GsMTx-4, a peptide toxin we found to block the channels with high affinity. In both cases, the MT channels in outer hair cells (OHCs) of wild-type mice displayed a tonotopic gradient in conductance, with channels from the cochlear base having a conductance (110 pS) nearly twice that of those at the apex (62 pS). This gradient w

SUBMITTER: Beurg M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4076520 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature