Hudspeth A J, Choe Y, Mehta A D, Martin P
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021-6399, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Oct 24;97(22):11765-72. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.22.11765.
As in other excitable cells, the ion channels of sensory receptors produce electrical signals that constitute the cellular response to stimulation. In photoreceptors, olfactory neurons, and some gustatory receptors, these channels essentially report the results of antecedent events in a cascade of chemical reactions. The mechanoelectrical transduction channels of hair cells, by contrast, are coupled directly to the stimulus. As a consequence, the mechanical properties of these channels shape our hearing process from the outset of transduction. Channel gating introduces nonlinearities prominent enough to be measured and even heard. Channels provide a feedback signal that controls the transducer's adaptation to large stimuli. Finally, transduction channels participate in an amplificatory process that sensitizes and sharpens hearing.
与其他可兴奋细胞一样，感觉受体的离子通道产生电信号，这些电信号构成细胞对刺激的反应。在光感受器、嗅觉神经元和一些味觉感受器中，这些通道主要报告化学反应级联中先前事件的结果。相比之下，毛细胞的机械电转导通道直接与刺激耦合。因此，这些通道的机械特性从转导开始就塑造了我们的听觉过程。通道门控引入的非线性足够显著，以至于可以被测量甚至听到。通道提供反馈信号，控制换能器对大刺激的适应。最后，转导通道参与一个放大过程，使听觉敏感并锐化。
