Mean ratio of stiffnesses for motion towards and away from the kinocilium in cochlear hair cell

Value 0.91 unitless
Organism Turtle Trachemys scripta elegans
Reference Crawford AC, Fettiplace R. The mechanical properties of ciliary bundles of turtle cochlear hair cells. J Physiol. 1985 Jul364: 359-79. p.365 2nd paragraphPubMed ID4032304
Method "The object of the work to be described is a quantitative analysis of the mechanical properties of the hair bundles. The approach has been to measure the bending of a single bundle in the turtle cochlea by attaching it to a flexible glass fibre, and monitoring the fibre's motion through its shadowing of a light beam falling on a photodiode array."
Comments "Under conditions where the fibre adhered strongly to a bundle, it was possible to compare stiffness values for motion towards and away from the kinocilium [="a special type of cilium on the apex of hair cells located in the sensory epithelium of the vertebrate inner ear.", wiki]. This comparison was performed in three cells, and did not reveal any major asymmetry in the steady-state stiffness, an observation which differs from that of Strelioff & Flock (1984). In the three experiments, the mean ratio of stiffnesses for motion towards and away from the kinocilium was 0.91."
Entered by Uri M
ID 111039