Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1993 Feb 15;90(4):1330–1334. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.4.1330

Displacement-clamp measurement of the forces exerted by gating springs in the hair bundle.

F Jaramillo 1, A J Hudspeth 1
PMCID: PMC45866  PMID: 7679501

Abstract

Mechanical stimuli applied to the hair bundle of a hair cell are communicated to the transduction channels by gating springs, elastic elements that are stretched when the bundle is displaced toward its tall edge. To quantify the magnitude and time dependence of the forces exerted by gating springs, we have developed a displacement-clamp system that constrains a bundle's motion while measuring the forces that the bundle produces during adaptation to mechanical stimuli, in response to channel blockage, and upon destruction of the gating springs. Our results suggest that each gating spring exerts a tension of approximately 8 pN in the resting bundle and can sustain at least 4-13 pN of additional tension. The experiments provide further evidence that the gating springs account for at least one-third of the hair bundle's dynamic stiffness and that a force of approximately 100 fN is sufficient to open a single transduction channel.

Full text

PDF
1333

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Assad J. A., Corey D. P. An active motor model for adaptation by vertebrate hair cells. J Neurosci. 1992 Sep;12(9):3291–3309. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-09-03291.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Assad J. A., Hacohen N., Corey D. P. Voltage dependence of adaptation and active bundle movement in bullfrog saccular hair cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(8):2918–2922. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.8.2918. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Assad J. A., Shepherd G. M., Corey D. P. Tip-link integrity and mechanical transduction in vertebrate hair cells. Neuron. 1991 Dec;7(6):985–994. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(91)90343-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Conzelman K. A., Mooseker M. S. The 110-kD protein-calmodulin complex of the intestinal microvillus is an actin-activated MgATPase. J Cell Biol. 1987 Jul;105(1):313–324. doi: 10.1083/jcb.105.1.313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Corey D. P., Hudspeth A. J. Kinetics of the receptor current in bullfrog saccular hair cells. J Neurosci. 1983 May;3(5):962–976. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.03-05-00962.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Corey D. P., Hudspeth A. J. Mechanical stimulation and micromanipulation with piezoelectric bimorph elements. J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):183–202. doi: 10.1016/0165-0270(80)90025-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Crawford A. C., Evans M. G., Fettiplace R. The actions of calcium on the mechano-electrical transducer current of turtle hair cells. J Physiol. 1991 Mar;434:369–398. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1991.sp018475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Crawford A. C., Fettiplace R. The mechanical properties of ciliary bundles of turtle cochlear hair cells. J Physiol. 1985 Jul;364:359–379. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015750. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Eatock R. A., Corey D. P., Hudspeth A. J. Adaptation of mechanoelectrical transduction in hair cells of the bullfrog's sacculus. J Neurosci. 1987 Sep;7(9):2821–2836. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.07-09-02821.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Flock A., Strelioff D. Graded and nonlinear mechanical properties of sensory hairs in the mammalian hearing organ. Nature. 1984 Aug 16;310(5978):597–599. doi: 10.1038/310597a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hacohen N., Assad J. A., Smith W. J., Corey D. P. Regulation of tension on hair-cell transduction channels: displacement and calcium dependence. J Neurosci. 1989 Nov;9(11):3988–3997. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-11-03988.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Holton T., Hudspeth A. J. The transduction channel of hair cells from the bull-frog characterized by noise analysis. J Physiol. 1986 Jun;375:195–227. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1986.sp016113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Howard J., Ashmore J. F. Stiffness of sensory hair bundles in the sacculus of the frog. Hear Res. 1986;23(1):93–104. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(86)90178-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Howard J., Hudspeth A. J. Compliance of the hair bundle associated with gating of mechanoelectrical transduction channels in the bullfrog's saccular hair cell. Neuron. 1988 May;1(3):189–199. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(88)90139-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Howard J., Hudspeth A. J. Mechanical relaxation of the hair bundle mediates adaptation in mechanoelectrical transduction by the bullfrog's saccular hair cell. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):3064–3068. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.3064. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Howard J., Roberts W. M., Hudspeth A. J. Mechanoelectrical transduction by hair cells. Annu Rev Biophys Biophys Chem. 1988;17:99–124. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.17.060188.000531. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Howe C. L., Mooseker M. S. Characterization of the 110-kdalton actin-calmodulin-, and membrane-binding protein from microvilli of intestinal epithelial cells. J Cell Biol. 1983 Oct;97(4):974–985. doi: 10.1083/jcb.97.4.974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hudspeth A. J., Corey D. P. Sensitivity, polarity, and conductance change in the response of vertebrate hair cells to controlled mechanical stimuli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Jun;74(6):2407–2411. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.6.2407. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hudspeth A. J. How the ear's works work. Nature. 1989 Oct 5;341(6241):397–404. doi: 10.1038/341397a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Huxley A. F., Simmons R. M. Proposed mechanism of force generation in striated muscle. Nature. 1971 Oct 22;233(5321):533–538. doi: 10.1038/233533a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Jacobs R. A., Hudspeth A. J. Ultrastructural correlates of mechanoelectrical transduction in hair cells of the bullfrog's internal ear. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1990;55:547–561. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1990.055.01.053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Jaramillo F., Hudspeth A. J. Localization of the hair cell's transduction channels at the hair bundle's top by iontophoretic application of a channel blocker. Neuron. 1991 Sep;7(3):409–420. doi: 10.1016/0896-6273(91)90293-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kroese A. B., Das A., Hudspeth A. J. Blockage of the transduction channels of hair cells in the bullfrog's sacculus by aminoglycoside antibiotics. Hear Res. 1989 Feb;37(3):203–217. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(89)90023-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Pickles J. O., Comis S. D., Osborne M. P. Cross-links between stereocilia in the guinea pig organ of Corti, and their possible relation to sensory transduction. Hear Res. 1984 Aug;15(2):103–112. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(84)90041-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Pickles J. O., Comis S. D., Osborne M. P. The effect of chronic application of kanamycin on stereocilia and their tip links in hair cells of the guinea pig cochlea. Hear Res. 1987;29(2-3):237–244. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(87)90170-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Roberts W. M., Howard J., Hudspeth A. J. Hair cells: transduction, tuning, and transmission in the inner ear. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1988;4:63–92. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.04.110188.000431. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Russell I. J., Richardson G. P., Kössl M. The responses of cochlear hair cells to tonic displacements of the sensory hair bundle. Hear Res. 1989 Dec;43(1):55–69. doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(89)90059-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Shotwell S. L., Jacobs R., Hudspeth A. J. Directional sensitivity of individual vertebrate hair cells to controlled deflection of their hair bundles. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1981;374:1–10. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1981.tb30854.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES