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

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Jeffrey Triffo ◽  
Hildur Palsdottir ◽  
Junha Song ◽  
David Gene Morgan ◽  
Kent L. McDonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cell ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Electron Tomography ◽  
Lateral Wall

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

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Jeffrey Triffo ◽  
Hildur Palsdottir ◽  
David Gene Morgan ◽  
Kent L. McDonald ◽  
Robert M. Raphael ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Hair Cell ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Electron Tomography ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
Lateral Wall ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
Unique Type

AbstractOuter hair cells 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 outer hair cell (OHC) lateral wall, and 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 that endow the SSC with a previously unrealized anisotropic structural rigidity. We also find the SSC is tightly connected to adjacent actin filaments by short filamentous protein connections spaced at regular intervals. Pillar proteins that join the plasma membrane to the cytoskeleton appear as variable structures considerably thinner than actin filaments and significantly more flexible than actin-SSC links. The structurally rich organization and rigidity of the SSC coupled with apparently weaker mechanical connections between the plasma membrane and cytoskeleton reveal that the membrane-cytoskeletal architecture of the OHC lateral wall is more complex than previously appreciated. These observations are important for our understanding of OHC mechanics and need to be considered in computational models of OHC electromotility that incorporate subcellular features.

Modeling the Mechanics of Tethers Pulled From the Cochlear Outer Hair Cell Membrane

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristopher R. Schumacher ◽  
Aleksander S. Popel ◽  
Bahman Anvari ◽  
William E. Brownell ◽  
Alexander A. Spector
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Hair Cell ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Lateral Wall ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
The Body ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Bending Modulus ◽  
Sound Amplification

Cell membrane tethers are formed naturally (e.g., in leukocyte rolling) and experimentally to probe membrane properties. In cochlear outer hair cells, the plasma membrane is part of the trilayer lateral wall, where the membrane is attached to the cytoskeleton by a system of radial pillars. The mechanics of these cells is important to the sound amplification and frequency selectivity of the ear. We present a modeling study to simulate the membrane deflection, bending, and interaction with the cytoskeleton in the outer hair cell tether pulling experiment. In our analysis, three regions of the membrane are considered: the body of a cylindrical tether, the area where the membrane is attached and interacts with the cytoskeleton, and the transition region between the two. By using a computational method, we found the shape of the membrane in all three regions over a range of tether lengths and forces observed in experiments. We also analyze the effects of biophysical properties of the membrane, including the bending modulus and the forces of the membrane adhesion to the cytoskeleton. The model’s results provide a better understanding of the mechanics of tethers pulled from cell membranes.

scholarly journals Fluorescence-Imaged Microdeformation of the Outer Hair Cell Lateral Wall

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Oghalai ◽  
Alpen A. Patel ◽  
Takashi Nakagawa ◽  
William E. Brownell
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cell ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Lateral Wall

Mechanosensitive Channels in the Lateral Wall Can Enhance the Cochlear Outer Hair Cell Frequency Response

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 991-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander A. Spector ◽  
Aleksander S. Popel ◽  
Ruth Anne Eatock ◽  
William E. Brownell
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cell ◽  
Frequency Response ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Lateral Wall ◽  
Mechanosensitive Channels ◽  
Cell Frequency

F-0911 Ultrastructure and Mechanical Properties of the Outer Hair Cell Lateral Wall

2001 ◽  
Vol VI.01.1 (0) ◽  
pp. 181-182
Author(s):  
Hiroto USUKURA ◽  
Michiko SUGAWARA ◽  
Hiroshi WADA
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Hair Cell ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Lateral Wall

Salicylate induced changes in outer hair cell lateral wall stiffness

1999 ◽  
Vol 135 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Jung-Chen Lue ◽  
William E Brownell
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cell ◽  
Outer Hair Cell ◽  
Lateral Wall ◽  
Wall Stiffness ◽  
Induced Changes
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