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Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published January 14, 2005. doi:10.1529/biophysj.104.052225
© 2005 by the Biophysical Society.

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CELL BIOPHYSICS

Evidence for a highly elastic shell-core organization of cochlear outer hair cells by local membrane indentation

Alexandra Zelenskaya 1, Jacques Boutet de Monvel 1, Devrim Pesen 2, Manfred Radmacher 3, Jan Hoh 2 and Mats Ulfendahl 1*

1 Karolinska Institutet
2 Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
3 Universität Bremen

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mats.ulfendahl{at}cfh.ki.se.

Submitted on September 1, 2004
Revised on October 4, 2004
Accepted on 3 January 2005


  Abstract
Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are thought to play an essential role in the high sensitivity and sharp frequency selectivity of the hearing organ, by generating forces that amplify the vibrations of this organ at frequencies up to several tens of kHz. This tuning process depends on the mechanical properties of the cochlear partition, which OHC activity has been proposed to modulate on a cycle-by-cycle basis. OHCs have a specialized shell-core ultrastructure, believed to be important for the mechanics of these cells and for their unique electromotility properties. Here we use atomic force microscopy to investigate the mechanical properties of isolated living OHCs and to show that indentation mechanics of their membrane is consistent with a shell-core organization. Indentations of OHCs are also found to be highly non-hysteretic at deformation rates of more than 40 µm/s, which suggests the OHC lateral wall is a highly elastic structure, with little viscous dissipation, as would appear to be required in view of the very rapid changes in shape and mechanics OHCs are believed to undergo in vivo.

Key Words: Atomic force microscopy, Cochlear amplifier, Elastic shell mechanics, Force distance curves, Outer hair cells, Viscoelastic membranes




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Copyright © 2005 by the Biophysical Society.