Appendix 1—figure 6. The fluorescence signal of bullfrog saccular hair bundles loaded with FM1-43 after exposure to laser irradiation.

We stimulated successive hair bundles in a row with 50 ms pulses at a power of 12.5 mW, the full power available for the fiber. The five hair bundles in the green box were subjected to 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 pulses, as indicated. A sixth hair bundle in the same row, labeled in red, was damaged by being crushed a few times by the end of the optical fiber. Immediately after those procedures, the sample was exposed to 1 mM of FM1-43 for one minute, after which fluorescence was recorded. The stimulated hair bundles show comparable levels of brightness between each other and with respect to those in the surroundings. The loading of the dye is visibly reduced in the mechanically damaged cell owing to breakage of the tip links.