Voltage- and ion-dependent conductances in solitary vertebrate hair cells

Abstract

An important function of the peripheral auditory system is the resolution of complex sounds into their constituent frequency components. It is well established that each mechanoreceptive hair cell of the cochlea is maximally sensitive to a particular frequency of sound^1,2, but the mechanisms by which this sharp frequency selectivity is achieved are still controversial³. The complex mechanical and hydrodynamic properties of the receptor organs and of the hair cells themselves are certainly involved³. However, in at least one auditory organ, the turtle cochlea, frequency tuning is greatly enhanced by the electrical properties of the hair-cell membrane; each cell in this organ behaves as an electrical resonator tuned to a narrow band of frequencies⁴. Using the ‘Gigaseal’, whole-cell recording technique⁵, we have investigated the biophysical basis of similar resonant behaviour in enzymatically isolated hair cells from the bullfrog sacculus. We report here the identification of three voltage- and ion-dependent conductances which may contribute to the electrical tuning mechanism: a non-inactivating calcium conductance, an A-type K⁺ conductance, and a Ca²⁺ -activated K⁺ conductance⁶.