Friction from Transduction Channels' Gating Affects Spontaneous Hair-Bundle Oscillations.

ABSTRACT: Hair cells of the inner ear can power spontaneous oscillations of their mechanosensory hair bundle, resulting in amplification of weak inputs near the characteristic frequency of oscillation. Recently, dynamic force measurements have revealed that delayed gating of the mechanosensitive ion channels responsible for mechanoelectrical transduction produces a friction force on the hair bundle. The significance of this intrinsic source of dissipation for the dynamical process underlying active hair-bundle motility has remained elusive. The aim of this work is to determine the role of friction in spontaneous hair-bundle oscillations. To this end, we characterized key oscillation properties over a large ensemble of individual hair cells and measured how viscosity of the endolymph that bathes the

SUBMITTER: Barral J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5985017 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature