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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Stereocilia Bundle Imaging with Nanoscale Resolution in Live Mammalian Auditory Hair Cells
Published on: January 21, 2021
Dynamic length regulation of sensory stereocilia
1Section on Structural Cell Biology, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States.
Abstract:
Stereocilia, the mechanosensory organelles of hair cells, are a distinctive class of actin-based cellular protrusions with an unparalleled ability to regulate their lengths over time. Studies on actin turnover in stereocilia, as well as the identification of several deafness-related proteins essential for proper stereocilia structure and function, provide new insights into the mechanisms and molecules involved in stereocilia length regulation and long-term maintenance. Comparisons of ongoing investigations on stereocilia with studies on other actin protrusions offer new opportunities to further understand common principles for length regulation, the diversity of its mechanisms, and how the specific needs of each cell are met.
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