Unconventional mechanics of lipid membranes: a potential role for mechanotransduction of hair cell stereocilia.

ABSTRACT: A force-conveying role of the lipid membrane across various mechanoreceptors is now an accepted hypothesis. However, such a mechanism is still not fully understood for mechanotransduction in the hair bundle of auditory sensory hair cells. A major goal of this theoretical assessment was to investigate the role of the lipid membrane in auditory mechanotransduction, especially in generating nonlinear bundle force versus displacement measurements, one of the main features of auditory mechanotransduction. To this end, a hair bundle model that generates lipid membrane tented deformation in the stereocilia was developed. A computational analysis of the model not only reproduced nonlinear bundle force measurements but also generated membrane energy that is potentially sufficient to activate the me

SUBMITTER: Kim J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4317542 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature