Anion control of voltage sensing by the motor protein prestin in outer hair cells

Volodymyr Rybalchenko, Joseph Santos-Sacchi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

The outer hair cell from Corti's organ possesses voltage-dependent intramembranous molecular motors evolved from the SLC26 anion transporter family.The motor, identified as prestin (SLC26a5), is responsible for electromotility of outer hair cells and mammalian cochlear amplification, a process that heightens our auditory responsiveness. Here, we describe experiments designed to evaluate the effects of anions on the motor's voltage-sensor charge movement, focusing on prestin's voltage-dependent Boltzmann characteristics.We find that the nature of the anion, including species, valence, and structure, regulates characteristics of the charge movement, signifying that anions play a more complicated role than simple voltage sensing in cochlear amplification.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4439-4447
Number of pages9
JournalBiophysical journal
Volume95
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2008

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics

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