3D Ultrastructure of the Cochlear Outer Hair Cell Lateral Wall Revealed By Electron Tomography.

ABSTRACT: Outer Hair Cells (OHCs) in the mammalian cochlea display a unique type of voltage-induced mechanical movement termed electromotility, which amplifies auditory signals and contributes to the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of mammalian hearing. Electromotility occurs in the OHC lateral wall, but it is not fully understood how the supramolecular architecture of the lateral wall enables this unique form of cellular motility. Employing electron tomography of high-pressure frozen and freeze-substituted OHCs, we visualized the 3D structure and organization of the membrane and cytoskeletal components of the OHC lateral wall. The subsurface cisterna (SSC) is a highly prominent feature, and we report that the SSC membranes and lumen possess hexagonally ordered arrays of particles. We also fin

SUBMITTER: Triffo WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6933316 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature