Calcium entry into stereocilia drives adaptation of the mechanoelectrical transducer current of mammalian cochlear hair cells.

ABSTRACT: Mechanotransduction in the auditory and vestibular systems depends on mechanosensitive ion channels in the stereociliary bundles that project from the apical surface of the sensory hair cells. In lower vertebrates, when the mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channels are opened by movement of the bundle in the excitatory direction, Ca(2+) entry through the open MET channels causes adaptation, rapidly reducing their open probability and resetting their operating range. It remains uncertain whether such Ca(2+)-dependent adaptation is also present in mammalian hair cells. Hair bundles of both outer and inner hair cells from mice were deflected by using sinewave or step mechanical stimuli applied using a piezo-driven fluid jet. We found that when cochlear hair cells were depolarized near the C

SUBMITTER: Corns LF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4205606 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature