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Published March 1, 1979 | public
Journal Article Open

Stereocilia mediate transduction in vertebrate hair cells

Abstract

The vertebrate hair cell is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical stimulation of its hair bundle, which usually consists of numerous large microvilli (stereocilia) and a single true cilium (the kinocilium). We have examined the roles of these two components of the hair bundle by recording intracellularly from bullfrog saccular hair cells. Detachment of the kinocilium from the hair bundle and deflection of this cilium produces no receptor potentials. Mechanical stimulation of stereocilia, however, elicits responses of normal amplitude and sensitivity. Scanning electron microscopy confirms the assessments of ciliary position made during physiological recording. Stereocilia mediate the transduction process of the vertebrate hair cell, while the kinocilium may serve primarily as a linkage conveying mechanical displacements to the stereocilia.

Additional Information

© 1979 by the National Academy of Sciences. Communicated by Susumu Hagiwara, December 26, 1978. We thank D. P. Corey for valuable discussions, S.L; Shotwell for participation in some experiments, P.F. Koen for maintenance of the electron microscope, and J.P. Brockes, M. Delbrück, E. Knudsen, M. Konishi, and D.C. Van Essen for comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant NS-13154 and by the Ann Peppers and William Randolph Hearst Foundations. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

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September 13, 2023
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