  The effectiveness of outer hair cells (OHCs) in amplifying the motion of the
organ of Corti, and thereby contributing to the sensitivity of mammalian
hearing, depends on the mechanical power output of these cells.
Electromechanical coupling in OHCs, which enables these cells to convert
electrical energy into mechanical energy, has been analyzed in detail using
isolated cells using primarily static membrane models. In the preceding
reports, mechanical output of OHC was evaluated by developing a kinetic theory
based on a simplified one-dimensional (1D) model for OHCs. Here such a kinetic
description of OHCs is extended by using the membrane model, which has been
used for analyzing in vitro experiments. The present theory predicts, for
systems without inertial load, that elastic load enhances positive shift of
voltage dependence of the membrane capacitance due to turgor pressure. For
systems with inertia, mechanical power output also depends on turgor pressure.
The maximal power output is, however, similar to the previous prediction of up
to ~10 fW based on the 1D model.
