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The delayed rectifier, Ikh, is the major conductance in type i vestibular hair cells across vestibular end organs

  • Orginal Article
  • Neurophysiology, muscle and sensory organs
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Abstract

Hair cells were dissociated from the semicircular canal, utricle, lagena and saccule of white king pigeons. Type I hair cells were identified morphologically based on the ratios of neck width to cuticular plate width (NPR < 0.72) as well as neck width to cell body width (NBR < 0.64). The perforated patch variant of the whole-cell recording technique was used to measure electrical properties from type I hair cells. In voltage-clamp, the membrane properties of all identified type I cells were dominated by a predominantly outward potassium current, previously characterized in semicircular canal as IKI. Zero-current potential, activation, deactivation, slope conductance, pharmacologic and steady-state properties of the complex currents were not statistically different between type I hair cells of different vestibular end organs. The voltage dependence causes a significant proportion of this conductance to be active about the cell′s zero-current potential. The first report of the whole-cell activation kinetics of the conductance is presented, showing a voltage dependence that could be best fit by an equation for a single exponential. Results presented here are the first data from pigeon dissociated type I hair cells from utricle, saccule and lagena suggesting that the basolateral conductances of a morphologically identified population of type I hair cells are conserved between functionally different vestibular end organs; the major conductance being a delayed rectifier characterized previously in semicircular canal hair cells as IKI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, MRB, Rt. J-63, 77555-1063, Galveston, TX, USA

    Anthony J. Ricci, Katherine J. Rennie & Manning J. Correia

  2. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 77555-1063, Galveston, TX, USA

    Manning J. Correia

  3. Department of Neurophysiology University of Wisconsin, 53704, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Anthony J. Ricci

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  1. Anthony J. Ricci
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  2. Katherine J. Rennie
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  3. Manning J. Correia
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Ricci, A.J., Rennie, K.J. & Correia, M.J. The delayed rectifier, Ikh, is the major conductance in type i vestibular hair cells across vestibular end organs. Pflügers Arch — Eur J Physiol 432, 34–42 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004240050102

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004240050102

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