Individual outer hair cells isolated from guinea pig cochleae were observed in vitro during the application of solutions that are known to cause hair cells to shorten. Solutions containing high potassium, which depolarizes cells, were applied in the form of potassium gluconate. The initial response was a shortening, followed by an elongation, after which the hair cells nearly resumed their original length. Solutions containing the presumed efferent neurotransmitter acetylcholine also caused an initial shortening, occasionally followed by an elongation, where a cell either returned to normal or exceeded its original length. Solutions containing cationized ferritin caused some cells to shorten and caused others to lengthen. The results indicate that the hair cell response to a chemical stimulus can be bidirectional. Moreover, the initial response of an individual cell may depend not only on the stimulus but also on the physiological state of the hair cell or the original location of the hair cell along the length of the sensory epithelium when it was in the cochlea.

Acetylcholine↗

PubMed1988

Protection against noise trauma by pre-exposure to a low level acoustic stimulus.

Guinea pigs were pre-exposed to a low level acoustic stimulus prior to exposure to a stimulus known to yield a permanent threshold shift. This pre-treatment resulted in: 1) approximately a 20 dB reduction in the threshold shift relative to animals not pre-exposed, and 2) complete recovery from the threshold shift after 2 months.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1988

Effects of caffeine and tetracaine on outer hair cell shortening suggest intracellular calcium involvement.

Outer hair cell (OHC) shortening has previously been induced in vitro by the application of solutions containing high potassium (a depolarizing agent), acetylcholine (a suggested efferent transmitter) and cationized ferritin (a positively charged macromolecule), as well as by electrical current. The application of caffeine, which causes contractures in skeletal and smooth muscle by releasing calcium from intracellular stores to activate actin and myosin interaction, also causes shortening of OHCs. Tetracaine, which interferes with calcium movement in muscle and non-muscle cells, blocks potassium-induced and caffeine-induced shortening of OHCs, but does not block electrically-induced shortening. Sodium dantrolene which is an inhibitor of intracellular calcium release in skeletal muscle does not block potassium-induced OHC shortening. Immunocytochemical studies using antibodies to muscle-like contractile and regulatory proteins on unfixed, freeze-dried OHCs demonstrate the co-localization of calmodulin with actin throughout the OHC cytoplasm. These results support the ideas that in OHCs, intracellular calcium release is involved in the activation of shortening and that an actin-mediated cell shape change may be regulated by calmodulin in a manner similar to that which occurs in contraction of smooth muscle.

Actins↗

PubMed1988

Do sensory cells in the ear have a motile function?

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Actins↗

PubMed1988

Acoustic stimulation causes tonotopic alterations in the length of isolated outer hair cells from guinea pig hearing organ.

Isolated outer hair cells from the mammalian cochlea exhibit a motile response to electrical or chemical stimulation. Here we show that isolated outer hair cells can also respond to acoustic stimulation, in the form of a tone burst of 200 Hz, by either shortening or lengthening depending on their cochlear location. Cells from the apical region of the cochlea (long cells) responded by increasing their length, whereas those from more basal regions (short cells) responded by decreasing their length. Cells from intermediate positions showed an equal probability for either elongating or shortening. Both the elongating and shortening response was inhibited by 3 microM poly(L-lysine). It is suggested that this tonotopic and bidirectional acoustic response may be one of the active components underlying the specific phase and frequency displacement of the basilar membrane.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1987

Pure tone overstimulation changes the micromechanical properties of the inner hair cell stereocilia.

The effect of permanent noise-induced hearing loss on the auditory brainstem response (ABR) and the micromechanical properties of cochlear hair cell stereocilia in guinea pigs was investigated. The threshold of movement of the stereocilia was measured by applying force from a fluid filled pipette. After exposure to a 1.0 kHz pure tone signal at 105 dB(A) for 72 h the threshold of the ABR was broadly elevated by approximately 50 dB. Inner hair cell stereocilia showed a decrease in threshold while the outer hair cell stereocilia bundles remained unaltered. This effect was localized to the 13-15 mm distance from the stapes corresponding to the region of maximal stimulation. The effect was recorded within 1 h of exposure and remained constant with exposures up to 7 days. Following a one month recovery period from sound exposure, normal threshold values of stereocilia movement were observed, indicating recovery. At this time, swelling of the afferent dendrites beneath the inner hair cells was observed throughout the cochlea together with approximately 30% scattered loss of outer hair cells in the 13 to 15 mm region. The ABR showed some recovery (approximately 20 dB), yet a threshold shift remained.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1987

Effects of noise on the nervous system.

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Animals↗