Direct analysis of the variability of the particles located in the lateral membrane of the outer hair cells and transduction mechanism using atomic force microscopy

用原子力显微镜观察了OHC外侧壁的超微结构。当沿细胞轴的沿着位置由距基端的归一化距离表示并且基端和顶端的位置由0.0和1.0表示时，可以得出以下结论。在实验中使用轻敲模式成像，因为摩擦力被最小化。位于质膜中的颗粒不能被检测到。相反，观察到的是周向细丝，这似乎是肌动蛋白，是皮质晶格的一部分。在距基端0.0 ~ 0.85和距基端0.85 ~ 1.0的区域内，周向纤维的平均间距分别为54 nm和44 nm.在距基端0.0至0.85和0.85至1.0之间的区域中的周向细丝的间隔之间的差异是导致单元的顶端区域中的高刚度的一个因素。

The ultrastructure of the OHC lateral wall was investigated by atomic force microscopy. When the position along the cell axis is represented by the normalized distance from the basal end and the positions of the basal and apical ends are expressed by 0.0 and 1.0, the following conclusions can be drawn.1. The tapping mode imaging was used in the experiments, because frictional forces are minimized. The particles located in the plasma membrane were not able to be detected. Instead, circumferential filaments were observed, which appear to be actins that are part of the cortical lattice.2. The mean interval of the circumferential filaments in the region between 0.0 and 0.85 from the basal end and that in the region between 0.85 and 1.0 from the basal end are 54 nm and 44 nm, respectively.3. The difference between the intervals of the circumferential filaments in the region between 0.0 and 0.85 and between 0.85 and 1.0 from the basal end is one factor that causes the high stiffness in the apical region of the cell.