This model, based on 3-D electron tomography images, reveals the 3-D architecture of the actin bundle (red) that compose a stereocilium, the actin-actin cross-linkers (blue), and the linkers (orange) that connect the actin bundle to the membranes (green). Images such as this will help scientists understand the physiology of hearing and balance at a molecular level. For scale, the black bar is 100 nanometers.
To learn how something works in biology, it pays to start really small. Take this research for example: A team that includes Berkeley Lab scientists has identified and mapped the locations of many of the proteins that compose a hair bundle, which is an organelle that sprouts from hair cells in the inner ear. Their work brings scientists one step closer to learning how hearing and balance function at the molecular scale. In addition, about 100 of the proteins inventoried by the scientists are encoded by genes implicated in deafness. Insights into the roles of these proteins could lead to a more complete understanding of the causes of hearing loss, and how to fight them. Hair bundles sway to and fro as the eardrum absorbs sound waves. When this happens, hair cells release neurotransmitters that reach the central nervous system.
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