Functional motor microdomains of the outer hair cell lateral membrane

The outer hair cell (OHC) of the mammalian inner ear is a highly partitioned neuroepithelial cell whose lateral membrane is devoted to electromotility, a fast mechanical length change owing to the motor protein, prestin. Spatially restricted measures of prestin-derived nonlinear capacitance or gating charge, using either electrical amputation or discrete membrane mechanical deformation, were used to determine that functional variation exists within the extensive lateral membrane of the cell. This was evidenced by variation in the motor's operating voltage range and sensitivity among microdomains within the lateral membrane. That is, localized regions of the membrane evidenced Boltzmann distributions of motor charge whose midpoint voltage and slope differed from those obtained for the whole cell. These data highlight the functional independence of microdomains and imply that measured whole cell characteristics may differ from the microscopic characteristics of elementary motors.