The remarkable sensitivity, frequency selectivity, and non-linearity of the cochlea have been attributed to the putative “cochlear amplifier,” which consumes metabolic energy to amplify the cochlear mechanical response to sounds. ear must analyze sounds with high intensity and time resolution. This enormous signal-processing task is definitely accomplished in real-time from the cochlea, which decomposes incoming CP-673451 cell signaling complex acoustic signals and encodes their temporal and amplitude info in auditory nerve activity. Humans can discriminate two acoustic tones differing in rate of recurrence by only 0.2C0.5% , a capability dependent on the sharp tuning of the basilar CP-673451 cell signaling membrane (BM) . Although a typical filter with sharp tuning has poor time resolution as it requires a long time constant, CP-673451 cell signaling a remarkable capability of the cochlea is that it affords high-frequency resolution without compromising time resolution. As an acoustic sensor, the sensitivity of the cochlea is extremely high; a recent measurement shows that human ear is able to detect a tympanic-membrane vibration with less than 1 pm displacement [3??]. Moreover, mammals can hear sounds over an intensity range of more than million-fold, also achieved through the activity of the cochlea. The term active hearing describes phenomena that result from a cochlear active process, which produces the extraordinary sensitivity, frequency selectivity, and wide dynamic range of the auditory system. The term active process is used interchangeably with cochlear amplifier, which refers more specifically to a hypothetical local feedback mechanism that consumes metabolic energy to amplify the mechanical responses of the cochlear partition to sounds [1,4]. Originally suggested by Thomas Gold CP-673451 cell signaling in 1948 , the cochlear amplifier concept was proposed to suggest how the cochlea achieves its remarkable sensitivity. Kemps discovery that the cochlea not only receives but also generates and emits sounds, including spontaneous otoacoustic emissions [6,7], lent strong support to the amplifier idea. Finding of somatic electrically induced motility (electromotility) of outer locks cells (OHC), mediated from the proteins prestin , recommended a reasonable power source for the suggested cochlear amplifier. Recognition of active hair bundle motion in mammals [9C11] suggested an alternative model for OHC active force generation. How the cochlea uses OHC-generated forces remains unclear; we propose the concept of a “cochlear transformer” as an alternative interpretation of active hearing. Active forces generated by outer hair cells Many believe that OHCs supply power to the hypothetical cochlear amplifier using somatic electromotility. An isolated OHC rapidly changes its shape in response to electrical stimulation [12C14]; transmembrane potential stimuli lengthen or contract cells by 3C5% . This electromotile response is sometimes called reverse transduction to distinguish it Rabbit Polyclonal to KAPCG from forward, mechanical-to-electrical transduction. OHCs elongate when they are depolarized, and shorten when hyperpolarized  in a nonlinear manner [15,16]. In the isolated cochlea, the cochlear partition distorts in response to electrically driven OHC length changes and produces place-specific vibration of the BM . Similarly, electrical stimulation of the cochlear partition evokes otoacoustic emissions [18,19]. The electromotile response is accompanied by a voltage-dependent change in axial stiffness of as much as ~10-fold , which could be exploited for amplification . Using suppression subtractive hybridization PCR , prestin was CP-673451 cell signaling identified as the likely motor protein. Prestin is abundantly expressed in OHCs and shows voltage-dependent charge movement and motility . Demonstrating the importance of prestin for the cochlear amplifier, a targeted deletion of prestin in mice results in loss of OHC electromotility and a 40C60 dB hearing loss . Cochlear microphonic potentials in homozygotes manifested harmonic and intermodulation distortion, showing a nonlinear forward transduction [24,25]. OHCs isolated from prestin knockout mice also show large asymmetric transducer currents similar to those in wild-type controls , indicating that OHC forward transduction is normal in null mice and that the observed hearing loss likely resulted from loss of reverse transduction. There was no significant difference in OHC electromotility, cochlear sensitivity, or frequency selectivity between wild-type mice and those with only one copy of the prestin gene . Interestingly, immunocytochemistry and western blot analysis indicated that prestin protein in heterozygotes is near wild-type levels  and that prestin mRNA is significantly less abundant in heterozygotes than in wildtype mice . These results suggested that creation of prestin proteins can be autoregulated which one copy from the prestin gene is enough for regular cochlear function. An alternative solution mechanism of power era by OHCs can be energetic hair bundle motion . Locks bundles express spontaneous oscillations and nonlinear responses to used makes. Spontaneous.