Keyword: hair bundle
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Electrical control of hair-cell mechanosensitivity in the inner ear
Sounds are detected in the inner ear by mechano-sensory “hair cells”. Hearing starts with sound-evoked deflections of the hair bundle, a cohesive tuft of stereocilia that works as the hair cell’s mechanical antenna (Fig. 1). These movements modulate tension in the tip links (Fig 1, inset) that pull on mechanosensitive ion channels, resulting in an…