Reciprocal electromechanical properties of rat prestin: The motor molecule from rat outer hair cells
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are responsible for the exquisite sensitivity, dynamic range, and frequency-resolving capacity of the mammalian hearing organ. These unique cells respond to an electrical stimulus with a cycle-by-cycle change in cell length that is mediated by molecular motors in the cells' basolateral membrane. Recent work identified prestin, a protein with similarity to pendrin-related anion transporters, as the OHC motor molecule. Here we show that heterologously expressed prestin from rat OHCs (rprestin) exhibits reciprocal electromechanical properties as known for the OHC motor protein. Upon electrical stimulation in the microchamber configuration, rprestin generates mechanical force with constant amplitude and phase up to a stimulus frequency of at least 20 kHz. Mechanical stimulation of rprestin in excised outside-out patches shifts the voltage dependence of the nonlinear capacitance characterizing the electrical properties of the molecule. The results indicate that rprestin is a molecular motor that displays reciprocal electromechanical properties over the entire frequency range relevant for mammalian hearing.
Authors: Jost Ludwig, Dominik Oliver, Gerhard Frank, Nikolaj Klöcker, Anthony W. Gummer, Bernd Fakler
Institution: University of Tübingen
Language: English
Subfield: Sensory Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2111513328