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Determination of inner hair cell stereocilia widening mechanism


EMSL Project ID
51591

Abstract

Hair cells are the sensory cells of the inner ear, and use the mechanically sensitive hair bundle to detect sound and head movements. Bundles are composed of a hundred or so stereocilia, each of which is constructed of several hundred parallel actin filaments arranged into a rigid paracrystal. Our lab is particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms of stereocilia assembly. While we know that individual stereocilia are formed by sequential lengthening, widening, and lengthening steps, critical details of each of those three steps are lacking. We will use cryo-ET to determine the mechanism of actin-core widening—does it proceed from tip to taper, taper to tip, or in both directions? Imaging stereocilia ultrastructure with cryo electron tomography will allow us to see features of widening with unprecedented resolution and test specific models for how it occurs.

Project Details

Start Date
2020-08-15
End Date
2021-03-17
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Peter Barr-Gillespie
Institution
Oregon Health & Science University

Team Members

Jocelyn Krey
Institution
Oregon Health & Science University

Irina El Khoury
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Trevor Moser
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory