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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Physiological Preparation of Hair Cells from the Sacculus of the American Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana
Published on: March 17, 2017
Control of a hair bundle's mechanosensory function by its mechanical load
Joshua D Salvi1, Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh1, Brian A Fabella1
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065.
Abstract:
Hair cells, the sensory receptors of the internal ear, subserve different functions in various receptor organs: they detect oscillatory stimuli in the auditory system, but transduce constant and step stimuli in the vestibular and lateral-line systems. We show that a hair cell's function can be controlled experimentally by adjusting its mechanical load. By making bundles from a single organ operate as any of four distinct types of signal detector, we demonstrate that altering only a few key parameters can fundamentally change a sensory cell's role. The motions of a single hair bundle can resemble those of a bundle from the amphibian vestibular system, the reptilian auditory system, or the mammalian auditory system, demonstrating an essential similarity of bundles across species and receptor organs.
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