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Actin in the inner ear: the remarkable structure of the stereocilium

Nature volume 287, pages 291–296 (1980)Cite this article

Abstract

The actin filament bundle in the stereocilium of the cochlear hair cell has liquid transverse order, but paracrystalline axial order. A single bonding rule, which determines how a cross bridging protein links neighbouring filaments, accounts for this unusual structure. Such liquid order is possible for bundles of other filamentous proteins.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02254

    D. J. DeRosier

  2. Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104

    L. G. Tilney

  3. Graduate Program in Biophysics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02254

    E. Egelman

Authors
  1. D. J. DeRosier
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  2. L. G. Tilney
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  3. E. Egelman
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DeRosier, D., Tilney, L. & Egelman, E. Actin in the inner ear: the remarkable structure of the stereocilium. Nature 287, 291–296 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287291a0

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