This book summarizes the emerging experimental evidence on hair-cell mechanotransduction, and covers hair’s cellular structure, biophysical properties, molecular components and functions. Auditory hair cells convert sound-induced vibration into electrical signals. This biological process, mechanotransduction, is what allows us to hear and communicate in our daily lives. However, our grasp of hair-cell mechanotransduction is still far from complete. Recent advances in molecular genetics and biophysics have helped us gain deeper insights into this process, especially the molecular constituent and operation of the channel complex. This book provides a cutting-edge snapshot for all readers who are interested in or studying how auditory hair cells detect sound.

Vertebrate Hair Cells provides a current overview of the mechanosensory receptor cells of the vertebrate inner ear. Each chapter is written by experimentalists active in exploring a particular set of questions in an aspect of hair cell function, including development, transduction, and synaptic transmission. Experimental approaches described include molecular, genetic, ultrastructural, biophysical and computational. Thus, each chapter covers not just what we know, but how we have learned it and the implications for future work. The experimental focus differentiates this book from general textbooks and targets an advanced audience, from senior undergraduates through to scientists in the field of hair cell research.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modem auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes will introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and will help established inves tigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The series focusses on topics that have developed a solid data and con ceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of compreh- sive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory - search. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established investigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in ?elds of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume presents a particular topic comprehensively, and each serves as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

This SHAR volume serves to expand, supplement, and update the original "Cochlea" volume in the series. The book aims to highlight the power of diverse modern approaches in cochlear research by focusing on advances in those fields over the last two decades. It also provides insights into where cochlear research is going, including new hearing prostheses for the deaf that will most likely soon enter the phase of clinical trials. The book will appeal to a broad, interdisciplinary readership, including neuroscientists and clinicians in addition to the more specific auditory community.

Hair cell mechanotransduction is a remarkable process featured by superb sensitivity and sub-millisecond level activation. The molecular identity of mechanotransduction channel has been a long time mystery. On the other hand, hair cells are utilized in multiple systems including the cochlea, the vestibular system and the lateral line. It is unclear that whether hair cells adapt to different systems and use different molecules for mechanotransduction. In the course of my study, I systematically investigated the requirement of transmembrane-like protein (Tmc) 1 and 2, the most promising mechanotransduction channel core forming components, in hair cells of the zebrafish inner ear and lateral line system. I determined that the heterologous dependencies to Tmc isoforms exist between hair cells from different systems, same system but different organs, and even the same organ. Additionally, I also studied on another mysterious organelle in the hair cells, the synaptic ribbon. Using transgenic zebrafish, I investigated the molecular turnover of Ribeye protein, a major component of this organelle in vivo, and found that Ribeye is intrinsically dynamic but significantly stabilized in the synapse context, suggesting mechanisms for synapse maintenance.

This special issue collects our current knowledge of the mechanical processing of acoustic signals by the cochlea and its containing structures. Many workers in diverse disciplines in otology use the facts from cochlear mechanics for the interpretation of their results. Presented here for the first time is the development of a three-dimensional mechanical model of the curved cochlea including fluid-structure couplings. An important approach for future cochlear modeling is shown by the provision of geometrical data for the input of three-dimensional finite element models by microtomographic imaging. A remarkable article tries to demonstrate a connection between outer hair cell mechanics and the complex phenomenon of tinnitus and will be of special interest for stress engineers. Owing to its strong interdisciplinarity, this issue is not only intended for biophysicists, ENT clinicians and audiologists but also for radiologists, biomechanical engineers and computer engineers.

Since the first TRP ion channel was discovered in Drosophila melanogaster in 1989, the progress made in this area of signaling research has yielded findings that offer the potential to dramatically impact human health and wellness. Involved in gateway activity for all five of our senses, TRP channels have been shown to respond to a wide range of st

Hair cells are specialized mechanoreceptor cells that reside in the inner ear with staircase-shaped bundles of stereocilia protruding from their apical surfaces. Hearing occurs when the hair bundle is tilted towards the tallest stereocilia, allowing the opening of mechanotransduction channels at the tips of stereocilia. The molecular identity of the mechanotransduction channel is unknown. Proteins with transmembrane domains are promising candidates for the mechanotransduction channel in hair cells. TALEN and CRISPR/Cas technologies are two technologies that have been shown to be efficient genome-editing tools in several organisms. In this study, we have successfully mutagenized the genes of several proteins that encode transmembrane domains with TALEN and CRISPR/Cas. Upon obtaining the knockout zebrafish, we will be able to assess the role of each gene in mechanotransduction. In summary, we have established a systematic platform to generate gene-specific knockout zebrafish with TALEN and CRISPR/Cas in order to determine the genes that regulate mechanotransduction in hearing.