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Biophys J, July 2001, p. 11-24, Vol. 81, No. 1

Simulation of Motor-Driven Cochlear Outer Hair Cell Electromotility

Alexander A. Spector, Mohammed Ameen, and Aleksander S. Popel

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Computational Medicine and Biology and Center for Hearing Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205 USA

We propose a three-dimensional (3D) model to simulate outer hair cell electromotility. In our model, the major components of the composite cell wall are explicitly represented. We simulate the activity of the particles/motor complexes in the plasma membrane by generating active strains inside them and compute the overall response of the cell. We also consider the constrained wall and compute the generated active force. We estimate the parameters of our model by matching the predicted longitudinal and circumferential electromotile strains with those observed in the microchamber experiment. In addition, we match the earlier estimated values of the active force and cell wall stiffness. The computed electromotile strains in the plasma membrane and other components of the wall are in agreement with experimental observations in trypsinized cells and in nonmotile cells transfected with Prestin. We discover several features of the 3D mechanism of outer hair cell electromotilty. Because of the constraints under which the motors operate, the motor-related strains have to be 2-3 times larger than the observable strains. The motor density has a strong effect on the electromotile strain. Such effect on the active force is significantly lower because of the interplay between the active and passive properties of the cell wall.

Biophys J, July 2001, p. 11-24, Vol. 81, No. 1
© 2001 by the Biophysical Society   0006-3495/01/07/11/14  $2.00


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