The structure of tip links and kinocilial links in avian sensory hair bundles.

Recent studies have indicated that the tip links and kinocilial links of sensory hair bundles in the inner ear have similar properties and share a common epitope, and that cadherin 23 may also be a component of each link type. Transmission electron microscopy was therefore used to study and compare the fine structure of the tip links and kinocilial links in avian sensory hair bundles. Tannic acid treatment revealed a thin strand, 150-200 nm long and 8-11 nm thick, present in both link types. Fourier analysis of link images showed that the strand of both link types is formed from two filaments coiled in a helix-like arrangement with an axial period of 20-25 nm, with each filament composed of globular structures that are approximately 4 nm in diameter. Differences in the radius and period of the helix-like structure may underlie the observed variation in the length of tip and kinocilial links. The similar helix-like structure of the tip links and kinocilial links is in accord with the presence of a common cell-surface antigen (TLA antigen) and similarities in the physical and chemical properties of the two link types. The spacing of the globular structures comprising each filament of the two link types is similar to the 4.3 nm center-to-center spacing reported for the globular cadherin repeat, and is consistent with the suggestion that cadherin 23 is the tip link.

[1]  R. Goodyear,et al.  A Novel Antigen Sensitive to Calcium Chelation That is Associated with the Tip Links and Kinocilial Links of Sensory Hair Bundles , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[2]  A J Hudspeth,et al.  Stereocilia mediate transduction in vertebrate hair cells (auditory system/cilium/vestibular system). , 1979, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  John A. Assad,et al.  Tip-link integrity and mechanical transduction in vertebrate hair cells , 1991, Neuron.

[4]  C. Petit.  Usher syndrome: from genetics to pathogenesis. , 2001, Annual review of genomics and human genetics.

[5]  Winfried Denk,et al.  Calcium imaging of single stereocilia in hair cells: Localization of transduction channels at both ends of tip links , 1995, Neuron.

[6]  D. Corey,et al.  Hearing: Tightrope act , 2004, Nature.

[7]  T. Boggon,et al.  C-Cadherin Ectodomain Structure and Implications for Cell Adhesion Mechanisms , 2002, Science.

[8]  Rainer W Friedrich,et al.  NompC TRP Channel Required for Vertebrate Sensory Hair Cell Mechanotransduction , 2003, Science.

[9]  R. Goodyear,et al.  Distribution of the 275 kD hair cell antigen and cell surface specialisations on auditory and vestibular hair bundles in the chicken inner ear , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[10]  C. Zuker,et al.  A Drosophila mechanosensory transduction channel. , 2000, Science.

[11]  M. Ikura,et al.  Structural basis of calcium-induced E-cadherin rigidification and dimerization , 1996, Nature.

[12]  A. J. Hudspeth,et al.  How the ear's works work , 1989, Nature.

[13]  J. Pickles,et al.  The organization of tip links and stereocilia on hair cells of bird and lizard basilar papillae , 1989, Hearing Research.

[14]  D. DeRosier,et al.  Reconstruction of three-dimensional images from electron micrographs of structures with helical symmetry. , 1970, Journal of molecular biology.

[15]  P. Santi,et al.  Helical Structure of Hair Cell Stereocilia Tip Links In the Chinchilla Cochlea , 2000, Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

[16]  A J Hudspeth,et al.  Mechanoelectrical transduction by hair cells. , 1988, Annual review of biophysics and biophysical chemistry.

[17]  J. Pickles,et al.  Morphology and cross-linkage of stereocilia in the guinea-pig labyrinth examined without the use of osmium as a fixative , 2004, Cell and Tissue Research.

[18]  J. Pickles,et al.  Further observations on the fine structure of tip links between stereocilia of the guinea pig cochlea , 1988, Hearing Research.

[19]  J. O. Pickles,et al.  Cross-links between stereocilia in the guinea pig organ of Corti, and their possible relation to sensory transduction , 1984, Hearing Research.

[20]  F. van Roy,et al.  Phylogenetic analysis of the cadherin superfamily allows identification of six major subfamilies besides several solitary members. , 2000, Journal of molecular biology.

[21]  P. Santi,et al.  Structure of Outer Hair Cell Stereocilia Side and Attachment Links in the Chinchilla Cochlea , 2002, The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society.

[22]  Stephan C. Schuster,et al.  Mutations in cadherin 23 affect tip links in zebrafish sensory hair cells , 2004, Nature.

[23]  Jonathon Howard,et al.  Hypothesis: A helix of ankyrin repeats of the NOMPC-TRP ion channel is the gating spring of mechanoreceptors , 2004, Current Biology.

[24]  C. Hackney,et al.  Cross-links between stereocilia in the guinea pig cochlea , 1985, Hearing Research.

[25]  V. Vand,et al.  The structure of synthetic polypeptides. I. The transform of atoms on a helix , 1952 .

[26]  M. Paparella,et al.  Structure of the stereocilia side links and morphology of auditory hair bundle in relation to noise exposure in the chinchilla , 2003, Journal of neurocytology.

[27]  Peter G. Gillespie,et al.  Cadherin 23 is a component of the tip link in hair-cell stereocilia , 2004, Nature.

[28]  Richard Goodyear,et al.  The Ankle-Link Antigen: an Epitope Sensitive to Calcium Chelation Associated with the Hair-Cell Surface and the Calycal Processes of Photoreceptors , 1999, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[29]  Francis Crick,et al.  Diffraction by helical structures , 1958 .

[30]  T. Yagi,et al.  Cadherin superfamily genes: functions, genomic organization, and neurologic diversity. , 2000, Genes & development.

[31]  I. Russell,et al.  Identification of a 275-kD protein associated with the apical surfaces of sensory hair cells in the avian inner ear , 1990, The Journal of cell biology.

[32]  David P. Corey,et al.  Mechanoelectrical transduction by hair cells , 1992, Trends in Neurosciences.

[33]  L. Pauling,et al.  The structure of synthetic polypeptides. , 1951, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[34]  F. Di Palma,et al.  Genomic structure, alternative splice forms and normal and mutant alleles of cadherin 23 (Cdh23). , 2001, Gene.

[35]  B. Kachar,et al.  High-resolution structure of hair-cell tip links. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[36]  A. J. Hudspeth,et al.  Stereocilia mediate transduction in vertebrate hair cells , 1979 .