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Effects of salicylate on sound-evoked outer hair cell stereocilia deflections

  • Sensory physiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Hearing depends on sound-evoked deflections of the stereocilia that protrude from the sensory hair cells in the inner ear. Although sound provides an important force driving stereocilia, forces generated through mechanically sensitive ion channels and through the motor protein prestin have been shown to influence stereocilia motion in solitary hair cells. While a possible influence of prestin on mechanically sensitive ion channels has not been systematically investigated, a decrease in transducer currents is evident in solitary hair cells when prestin is blocked with salicylate, raising the question of whether a reduced prestin activity or salicylate itself affected the mechanotransduction apparatus. We used two- and three-dimensional time-resolved confocal imaging to visualize outer hair cell stereocilia during sound stimulation in the apical turn of cochlear explant preparations from the guinea pig. Surprisingly, following application of salicylate, outer hair cell stereocilia deflections increased, while cochlear microphonic potentials decreased. However, when prestin activity was altered with the chloride ionophore tributyltin, both the cochlear microphonic potential and the stereocilia deflection amplitude decreased. Neither positive nor negative current stimulation abolished the bundle movements in the presence of salicylate, indicating that the observed effects did not depend on the endocochlear potential. These data suggest that salicylate may alter the mechanical properties of stereocilia, decreasing their bending stiffness.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Swedish Research Council grant K2011-63X-14061-11-3, the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (grant 2006–1526), Wallenberg foundations, Torsten Söderberg foundation, Tysta Skolan Foundation, Hörselskadades Riksförbund (A.F.) and Wenner-Gren foundations (P.H.).

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The authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Cell Biology, Linköping University, SE-581 85, Linköping, Sweden

    Pierre Hakizimana & Anders Fridberger

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  1. Pierre Hakizimana
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  2. Anders Fridberger
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Correspondence to Anders Fridberger.

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Hakizimana, P., Fridberger, A. Effects of salicylate on sound-evoked outer hair cell stereocilia deflections. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 467, 2021–2029 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-014-1646-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-014-1646-4

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