Direct mechanical stimulation of tip links in hair cells through DNA tethers

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Abstract

Mechanoelectrical transduction by hair cells commences with hair-bundle deflection, which is postulated to tense filamentous tip links connected to transduction channels. Because direct mechanical stimulation of tip links has not been experimentally possible, this hypothesis has not been tested directly. We have engineered DNA tethers that link superparamagnetic beads to tip links and exert mechanical forces on the links when exposed to a magnetic-field gradient. By pulling directly on tip links of the bullfrog's sacculus we have evoked transduction currents from hair cells, confirming the hypothesis that tension in the tip links opens transduction channels. This demonstration of direct mechanical access to tip links additionally lays a foundation for experiments probing the mechanics of individual channels.

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Aakash Basu

Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Samuel Lagier

Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Maria Vologodskaia

Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Brian A Fabella

Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
A J Hudspeth

Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, United States

For correspondence
hudspaj@rockefeller.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All procedures were approved by the University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee under protocol 13665. Animals were sacrificed by dual pithing after anesthesia by immersion in ethyl-3-aminobenzoate methanesulfonic acid.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.