# Control of a hair bundle's mechanosensory function by its mechanical load

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the mechanosensory function of hair cells can be experimentally controlled by adjusting their mechanical load, allowing a single hair bundle to mimic different sensory roles across species and receptor organs.

## Contribution

It shows that altering a few key parameters of a hair bundle's mechanical load can switch its sensory function, revealing a fundamental similarity across different species and receptor types.

## Key findings

- Hair cell function can be controlled by mechanical load adjustments.
- Single hair bundle can mimic different sensory roles.
- Fundamental similarity of hair bundles across species.

## Abstract

Hair cells, the sensory receptors of the internal ear, subserve different functions in various receptor organs: they detect oscillatory stimuli in the auditory system, but transduce constant and step stimuli in the vestibular and lateral-line systems. We show that a hair cell's function can be controlled experimentally by adjusting its mechanical load. By making bundles from a single organ operate as any of four distinct types of signal detector, we demonstrate that altering only a few key parameters can fundamentally change a sensory cell's role. The motions of a single hair bundle can resemble those of a bundle from the amphibian vestibular system, the reptilian auditory system, or the mammalian auditory system, demonstrating an essential similarity of bundles across species and receptor organs.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.09637