Characterization of adaptation motors in saccular hair cells by fluctuation analysis

Jonathan E. Frank, Vladislav Markin, Fernán Jaramillo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mechanical sensitivity of hair cells, the sensory receptors of the vestibular and auditory systems, is maintained by adaptation, which resets the transducer to cancel the effects of static stimuli. Adaptation motors in hair cells can be experimentally activated by externally applying a transduction channel blocker to the hair bundle, causing the hair bundle to move in the negative direction. We studied the variance in the position of the hair bundle during these displacements and found that it increases as the bundle moves to its new position. Often the variance peaks, and then declines to a steady-state value. We describe both displacement and variance with a model in which a motor acting on the bundle takes ∼3.6-nm steps whose frequency (∼22 s-1) declines with the motor's load.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3188-3201
Number of pages14
JournalBiophysical journal
Volume83
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2002

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics

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