These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: [Physiological effects of destruction of the tip links of cochlear hair cells. Significance for noise-induced hearing loss]. Author: Meyer J, Gummer AW. Journal: HNO; 2000 May; 48(5):383-9. PubMed ID: 10872120. Abstract: Sound overexposure is known to cause damage to cochlear structures and can induce permanent or temporary hearing loss and tinnitus. Perhaps the most sensitive of these structures to sound overexposure are the tip links. In this paper the electrophysiological effects of pharmacological destruction of the tip links of outer hair cells was investigated. Outer hair cells treated with elastase (20 U/mL) or BAPTA (5 mM) no longer responded to sinusoidal stimuli. In contrast to common belief, transduction channels opened due to loss of tip links. Such opened channels can allow K+ and Ca2+ to enter the cell from the endolymphatic space and cold lead to permanent depolarization. This influx of cations caused by loss of tip links, together with the subsequent hair-cell depolarization, might be a source of sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus associated with acoustic trauma.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]