JN AJP: Advances in Physiology Education
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Neurophysiol (September 21, 2005). doi:10.1152/jn.00800.2005
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow supplementa data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
95/1/171    most recent
00800.2005v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (9)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Xue, J.
Right arrow Articles by Peterson, E. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Xue, J.
Right arrow Articles by Peterson, E. H.
Submitted on July 28, 2005
Accepted on September 19, 2005

Hair bundle heights in the utricle: Differences between macular locations and hair cell types

Jingbing Xue and Ellengene H. Peterson*

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: peterson{at}ohio.edu.

Hair bundle structure is a major determinant of bundle mechanics, and thus of a hair cell's ability to encode sound and head movement stimuli. Little quantitative information about bundle structure is available for vestibular organs. Here we characterize hair bundle heights in the utricle of a turtle, Trachemys scripta. We visualized bundles from the side using confocal images of utricular slices. We measured kinocilia and stereocilia heights and array length (distance from tall to short end of bundle), and we calculated a KS ratio (kinocilium height/height of the tallest stereocilia) and bundle slope (height fall-off from tall to short end of bundle). To ensure that our measurements reflect in vivo dimensions as closely as possible, we used fixed but undehydrated utricular slices, and we measured heights in three dimensions by tracing kinocilia and stereocilia through adjacent confocal sections. Bundle heights vary significantly with position on the utricular macula and with hair cell type. Type II hair cells are found throughout the macula. We identified four subgroups that differ in bundle structure: zone 1 (lateral extrastriola), striolar zone 2, striolar zone 3, and zone 4 (medial extrastriola). Type I hair cells are confined to striolar zone 3. They have taller stereocilia, longer arrays, lower KS ratios, and steeper slopes than do neighboring (zone 3) type II bundles. Models and experiments suggest that these location- and type-specific differences in bundle heights will yield parallel variations in bundle mechanics. Our data also raise the possibility that differences in bundle structure and mechanics will help explain location- and type-specific differences in the physiological profiles of utricular afferents, which have been reported in frogs and mammals.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
A. Li, J. Xue, and E. H. Peterson
Architecture of the Mouse Utricle: Macular Organization and Hair Bundle Heights
J Neurophysiol, February 1, 2008; 99(2): 718 - 733.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
A. Haque, D. Huss, and J. D. Dickman
Afferent Innervation Patterns of the Pigeon Horizontal Crista Ampullaris
J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2006; 96(6): 3293 - 3304.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
M. H. Rowe and E. H. Peterson
Autocorrelation Analysis of Hair Bundle Structure in the Utricle
J Neurophysiol, November 1, 2006; 96(5): 2653 - 2669.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2005 by the The American Physiological Society.