Row-to-row horizontal links may be associated with the transduction channels of hair cells

In a geometric model of passive elastic elements in the hair bundles of vertebrate acousticolateralis hair cells, Geisler provides evidence against a role of horizontal links in sensory transduction. One premise of this model, the tenet that horizontal links are stretched in the same way as tip links, may be invalid. We propose that the horizontal links may be rigid, implying that the attachment points of the horizontal links in the stereociliary membrane must move when the hair bundle is deflected. Since the movement is linear with the angle of deflection, a connection of transduction channels and horizontal links is conceivable.