scholarly journals The organization of actin filaments in the stereocilia of cochlear hair cells.

1980 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
L G Tilney ◽  
D J Derosier ◽  
M J Mulroy

Within each tapering stereocilium of the cochlea of the alligator lizard is a bundle of actin filaments with > 3,000 filaments near the tip and only 18-29 filaments at the base where the bundle enters into the cuticular plate; there the filaments splay out as if on the surface of a cone, forming the rootlet. Decoration of the hair cells with subfragment 1 of myosin reveals that all the filaments in the stereocilia, including those that extend into the cuticular plate forming the rootlet, have unidirectional polarity, with the arrowheads pointing towards the cell center. The rest of the cuticular plate is composed of actin filaments that show random polarity, and numerous fine, 30 A filaments that connect the rootlet filaments to each other, to the cuticular plate, and to the membrane. A careful examination of the packing of the actin filaments in the stereocilia by thin sectin and by optical diffraction reveals that the filaments are packed in a paracrystalline array with the crossover points of all the actin helices in hear-perfect register. In transverse sections, the actin filaments are not hexagonally packed but, rather, are arranged in scalloped rows that present a festooned profile. We demonstrated that this profile is a product of the crossbridges by examining serial sections, sections of different thicknesses, and the same stereocilium at two different cutting angles. The filament packing is not altered by fixation in different media, removal of the limiting membrane by detergent extraction, or incubation of extracted hair cells in EGTA, EDTA, and Ca++ and ATP. From our results, we conclude that the stereocilia of the ear, unlike the brush border of intestinal epithelial cells, are not designed to shorten, nor do the filaments appear to slide past one another. In fact, the stereocilium is like a large, rigid structure designed to move as a lever.

1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (6) ◽  
pp. 2853-2867 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J DeRosier ◽  
L G Tilney

The cuticular plate is a network of actin filaments found in hair cells of the cochlea. In the alligator lizard, it consists of rootlets, emanating from the stereocilia, and of cross-connecting actin filaments that anchor these rootlets. In thin sections, this network displays striking patches of 650 +/- 110-A striae. By quantitative analyses of the images, the mystery of the striae can be explained. They are due in part to the rootlets which are sets of flat ribbons of actin filaments. The ribbons in each set are separated by approximately 650 A. Numerous whiskers 30 A in diameter extend from each ribbon's face, interconnecting adjacent ribbons. The nonrootlet filaments, except at the margins of the cell, occur primarily as single filaments. Like the ribbons, they are bristling with whiskers. The patches of striae are explained by ribbons and filaments held at a 650-A separation by the whiskers that project from them. A simple model for regions of bewhiskered filaments is a box crammed full of randomly oriented test-tube brushes. A thin slice through the box will show regions of dark lines or striae due to the wire backbones of the brushes separated from one another by the bristle length. Using the computer instead of test-tube brushes, we have been able to model quantitatively the filament distribution and pattern of striae seen in the cuticular plate of the lizard. The organization of actin filaments we have deduced from our simulations differs from that found in macrophages or in the terminal web of intestinal epithelial cells.


1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 1711-1723 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Tilney ◽  
L G Tilney ◽  
R E Stephens ◽  
C Merte ◽  
D Drenckhahn ◽  
...  

The sensory epithelium of the chick cochlea contains only two cell types, hair cells and supporting cells. We developed methods to rapidly dissect out the sensory epithelium and to prepare a detergent-extracted cytoskeleton. High salt treatment of the cytoskeleton leaves a "hair border", containing actin filament bundles of the stereocilia still attached to the cuticular plate. On SDS-PAGE stained with silver the intact epithelium is seen to contain a large number of bands, the most prominent of which are calbindin and actin. Detergent extraction solubilizes most of the proteins including calbindin. On immunoblots antibodies prepared against fimbrin from chicken intestinal epithelial cells cross react with the 57- and 65-kD bands present in the sensory epithelium and the cytoskeleton. It is probable that the 57-kD is a proteolytic fragment of the 65-kD protein. Preparations of stereocilia attached to the overlying tectorial membrane contain the 57- and 65-kD bands. A 400-kD band is present in the cuticular plate. By immunofluorescence, fimbrin is detected in stereocilia but not in the hair borders after salt extraction. The prominent 125 A transverse stripping pattern characteristic of the actin cross-bridges in a bundle is also absent in hair borders suggesting fimbrin as the component that gives rise to the transverse stripes. Because the actin filaments in the stereocilia of hair borders still remain as compact bundles, albeit very disordered, there must be an additional uncharacterized protein besides fimbrin that cross-links the actin filaments together.


1982 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Hirokawa ◽  
L G Tilney

Replicas of the apical surface of hair cells of the inner ear (vestibular organ) were examined after quick freezing and rotary shadowing. With this technique we illustrate two previously undescribed ways in which the actin filaments in the stereocilia and in the cuticular plate are attached to the plasma membrane. First, in each stereocilium there are threadlike connectors running from the actin filament bundle to the limiting membrane. Second, many of the actin filaments in the cuticular plate are connected to the apical cell membrane by tiny branched connecting units like a "crow's foot." Where these "feet" contact the membrane there is a small swelling. These branched "feet" extend mainly from the ends of the actin filaments but some connect the lateral surfaces of the actin filaments as well. Actin filaments in the cuticular plate are also connected to each other by finer filaments, 3 nm in thickness and 74 +/- 14 nm in length. Interestingly, these 3-nm filaments (which measure 4 nm in replicas) connect actin filaments not only of the same polarity but of opposite polarities as documented by examining replicas of the cuticular plate which had been decorated with subfragment 1 (S1) of myosin. At the apicolateral margins of the cell we find two populations of actin filaments, one just beneath the tight junction as a network, the other at the level of the zonula adherens as a ring. The latter which is quite substantial is composed of actin filaments that run parallel to each other; adjacent filaments often show opposite polarities, as evidenced by S1 decoration. The filaments making up this ring are connected together by the 3-nm connectors. Because of the polarity of the filaments this ring may be a "contractile" ring; the implications of this is discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tama Hasson ◽  
Peter G. Gillespie ◽  
Jesus A. Garcia ◽  
Richard B. MacDonald ◽  
Yi-dong Zhao ◽  
...  

To understand how cells differentially use the dozens of myosin isozymes present in each genome, we examined the distribution of four unconventional myosin isozymes in the inner ear, a tissue that is particularly reliant on actin-rich structures and unconventional myosin isozymes. Of the four isozymes, each from a different class, three are expressed in the hair cells of amphibia and mammals. In stereocilia, constructed of cross-linked F-actin filaments, myosin-Iβ is found mostly near stereociliary tips, myosin-VI is largely absent, and myosin-VIIa colocalizes with crosslinks that connect adjacent stereocilia. In the cuticular plate, a meshwork of actin filaments, myosin-Iβ is excluded, myosin-VI is concentrated, and modest amounts of myosin-VIIa are present. These three myosin isozymes are excluded from other actin-rich domains, including the circumferential actin belt and the cortical actin network. A member of a fourth class, myosin-V, is not expressed in hair cells but is present at high levels in afferent nerve cells that innervate hair cells. Substantial amounts of myosins-Iβ, -VI, and -VIIa are located in a pericuticular necklace that is largely free of F-actin, squeezed between (but not associated with) actin of the cuticular plate and the circumferential belt. Our localization results suggest specific functions for three hair-cell myosin isozymes. As suggested previously, myosin-Iβ probably plays a role in adaptation; concentration of myosin-VI in cuticular plates and association with stereociliary rootlets suggest that this isozyme participates in rigidly anchoring stereocilia; and finally, colocalization with cross-links between adjacent stereocilia indicates that myosin-VIIa is required for the structural integrity of hair bundles.


1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Drenckhahn ◽  
K Engel ◽  
D Höfer ◽  
C Merte ◽  
L Tilney ◽  
...  

The apex of hair cells of the chicken auditory organ contains three different kinds of assemblies of actin filaments in close spatial proximity. These are (a) paracrystals of actin filaments with identical polarity in stereocilia, (b) a dense gellike meshwork of actin filaments forming the cuticular plate, and (c) a bundle of parallel actin filaments with mixed polarities that constitute the circumferential filament belt attached to the cytoplasmic aspect of the zonula adhaerens (ZA). Each different supramolecular assembly of actin filaments contains a specific actin filament cross-linking protein which is unique to that particular assembly. Thus fimbrin appears to be responsible for paracrystallin packing of actin filaments in stereocillia; an isoform of spectrin resides in the cuticular plate where it forms the whisker-like crossbridges, and alpha actinin is the actin crosslinking protein of the circumferential ZA bundle. Tropomyosin, which stabilizes actin filaments, is present in all the actin filament assemblies except for the stereocilia. Another striking finding was that myosin appears to be absent from the ZA ring and cuticular plate of hair cells although present in the ZA ring of supporting cells. The abundance of myosin in the ZA ring of the surrounding supporting cells means that it may be important in forming a supporting tensile cellular framework in which the hair cells are inserted.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Bei Chen ◽  
Yunfeng Wang ◽  
Manying Geng ◽  
Xi Lin ◽  
Wenxue Tang

This study aimed to investigate the localization pattern of glucose transporters (Gluts) in mouse cochlea. Genome-wide gene expression analysis using CodeLink™ bioarrays indicated that Glut1 and Glut10 were highly expressed (~10-fold) in mouse cochlea compared with the other members of glucose transporters (Glut2-6, Glut8, and Glut9). Semiquantitative RT-PCR and western blotting confirmed that Glut10 expression in mouse cochlea was high throughout the embryogenesis and postnatal development. Immunofluorescent staining showed that Glut10 protein was localized in the cuticular plate of the outer and inner cochlear hair cells and in the ampullary crest of the vestibular system. Based on these results, it was supposed that Glut10 may contribute to glucose transport from the endolymph to the hair cells across the cuticular plate.


Author(s):  
G.J. Spector ◽  
C.D. Carr ◽  
I. Kaufman Arenberg ◽  
R.H. Maisel

All studies on primary neural degeneration in the cochlea have evaluated the end stages of degeneration or the indiscriminate destruction of both sensory cells and cochlear neurons. We have developed a model which selectively simulates the dystrophic changes denoting cochlear neural degeneration while sparing the cochlear hair cells. Such a model can be used to define more precisely the mechanism of presbycusis or the hearing loss in aging man.Twenty-two pigmented guinea pigs (200-250 gm) were perfused by the perilymphatic route as live preparations using fluorocitrate in various concentrations (15-250 ug/cc) and at different incubation times (5-150 minutes). The barium salt of DL fluorocitrate, (C6H4O7F)2Ba3, was reacted with 1.0N sulfuric acid to precipitate the barium as a sulfate. The perfusion medium was prepared, just prior to use, as follows: sodium phosphate buffer 0.2M, pH 7.4 = 9cc; fluorocitrate = 15-200 mg/cc; and sucrose = 0.2M.


Author(s):  
E.J. Battles ◽  
D. DeRosier ◽  
J.C. Saunders ◽  
L.G. Tilney

Extending from the apical surface of each hair cell of the chick cochlea are from 75 to 200 microvilli or stereocllia and one true cllium, the kinocilium. The stereocllia are arranged in rows of progressively increasing length (Fig. 1). Within each tapering sterocilium is a bundle of actin filaments with over 900 filaments near the tip yet only approximately 25 at the base where filaments are enmeshed in a dense material (Fig. 1); from here some of the filaments enter the apical surface of the cell (cuticular plate) as a rootlet. Examination of longitudinal sections of the stereocilia (Fig. 2) show that the filaments are aligned parallel to each other and show considerable order. Examination of an optical diffraction pattern of this bundle (Fig. 4) reveal that the actin filaments are packed such that the crossover points of adjacent actin filaments are inregister. A prominent reflection at 125Å−1 demonstrates that the filaments are cjossbridged by a macromolecular bridge situated at an average of 125Å−1 intervals (Fig. 4) in transverse sections the filaments appear hexagonally packed although there are regions where the filaments are less ordered (Fig. 3). In images processed in the computer to remove, noise and enhance detail periodic nature of the bridge can be clearly seen (see arrows Fig. 5). This image resembles that of an actin paracrystal formed from sea urchin extract composed of bundles of actin filaments crossbridged by a second protein. Thus the actin filaments in the bird stereocilia by being cross-bridged and packed with a high degree of order and produces a structure with considerable structural rigidity. Embryos were studied at various stages in development in an attempt to determine how the stereocilia form and how does the actin packing develops. These stages will be discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asti Kristianti ◽  
Teti Madiadipoera ◽  
Bogi Soeseno

Background: Chemotherapy is worldwide used nowadays, and its toxicity still remain a problemespecially toxicity to the ear (ototoxicity). Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum) is one of themost commonly used chemotherapy and highly potent in treating epithelial malignancies. Ototoxicitycaused by cisplatin is irreversible, progressive, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss especially on highfrequency (4-8 KHz) accompanied by tinnitus. Purpose: To observe the cochlear outer hair cells damagein malignancies patients treated with cisplatin. Methods: This study is an observational analytic studywith prospective design to determine the influence of high dose cisplatin on cochlear outer hair cellsfunction. The research was carried out at the ENT-HNS Department, Hasan Sadikin General HospitalBandung, from November 2007 until June 2008. Audiometry, tympanometry, and distortion productotoacoustic emission (DPOAE) examinations were conducted before chemotherapy and DPOAE, andtimpanometry was again measured three days after first and second cycles of cisplatin administration. McNemar test was performed to calculate the effects of high-dose cisplatin to the cochlear outer haircells function. To compare pre and post-cisplatin on alteration of cochlear hair cells function, Wilcoxontest was used. Results: In this study 60 ears from 30 subjects that meet the inclusion criteria, consistedof 25 man (83.3%) and 5 women (16.7%). The prevalence of damaged cochlear outer hair cells were63% at first cycle and 70% at second cycle of cisplatin administration. The decline of cochlear outerhair cells function was significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: High-dose cisplatin decreases cochlear outerhair cells function in patients with malignant neoplasm. Abstrak : Latar belakang: Kemoterapi sekarang rutin digunakan secara klinis di seluruh dunia. Sejalan denganhal tersebut toksisitas kemoterapi, khususnya terhadap telinga saat ini menjadi perhatian. Sisplatin(cis-diamminedichloroplatinum) adalah salah satu obat kemoterapi yang paling banyak digunakandan paling manjur untuk terapi keganasan epitelial. Efek ototoksik sisplatin yaitu terjadi gangguandengar sensorineural yang irreversible, progresif, bilateral pada frekuensi tinggi (4-8 kHz), dan disertaidengan tinitus. Tujuan: Untuk menilai penurunan fungsi sel rambut luar koklea pada penderita tumorganas sesudah pemberian sisplatin dosis tinggi dengan menggunakan DPOAE. Metode: Studi analitikobservasional dengan rancangan prospektif di Bagian IK. THT-KL RS. Hasan Sadikin Bandung mulaibulan November 2007 sampai dengan Juni 2008. Pada penelitian ini dilakukan pemeriksaan audiometrinada murni, timpanometri, dan distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) prakemoterapi, kemudianDPOAE dan timpanometri diulang tiga hari sesudah siklus pertama dan kedua kemoterapi sisplatin. Datayang diperoleh diuji dengan uji McNemar dan uji Wilcoxon. Hasil: Dari penelitian didapat 60 telingadari 30 subjek penelitian yang memenuhi kriteria inklusi yang terdiri dari 25 laki-laki (83,3%) dan 5perempuan (16,7%). Insidens penurunan fungsi sel rambut luar koklea sebesar 63% (38 kasus) sesudahsiklus pertama dan 70% (42 kasus) sesudah siklus kedua. Hubungan penurunan fungsi sel rambut luarkoklea memberikan nilai yang sangat bermakna sejak pemberian siklus pertama (p<0,001). Kesimpulan:Pemberian sisplatin dosis tinggi pada penderita tumor ganas menyebabkan penurunan fungsi sel rambutluar koklea.Kata kunci: kemoterapi, sisplatin dosis tinggi, sel rambut luar koklea.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document