Abstract
Analysis of mechanotransduction among ensembles of sensory hair cells in vivo is challenging in many species. To overcome this challenge, we used optical indicators to investigate mechanotransduction among collections of hair cells in intact zebrafish. Our imaging reveals a previously undiscovered disconnect between hair-cell mechanosensation and synaptic transmission. We show that saturating mechanical stimuli able to open mechanically gated channels are unexpectedly insufficient to evoke vesicle fusion in the majority of hair cells. Although synaptically silent, latent hair cells can be rapidly recruited after damage, demonstrating that they are synaptically competent. Therefore synaptically silent hair cells may be an important reserve that acts to maintain sensory function. Our results demonstrate a previously unidentified level of complexity in sculpting sensory transmission from the periphery.
Highlights
Analysis of mechanotransduction among ensembles of sensory hair cells in vivo is challenging in many species
The activity profile of individual sensory cells is well characterized[4], but within ensembles of primary sensory cells it is not known whether all cells and synapses function together to encode sensory information in vivo
To understand the functional properties of both individual and populations of hair cells in their native environment, we examined hair cells located in the sensory organs of the zebrafish lateral-line system[7,8]
Summary
Analysis of mechanotransduction among ensembles of sensory hair cells in vivo is challenging in many species. Stimuli deflect mechanosensory bundles, open mechanically gated channels, and allow the influx of K+ and Ca2+ which depolarizes the hair cell[5] This depolarization is graded and leads to a voltage change that activates presynaptic voltage-gated base of the cell, initiating localized. To understand the functional properties of both individual and populations of hair cells in their native environment, we examined hair cells located in the sensory organs (neuromasts) of the zebrafish lateral-line system[7,8]. The lateral-line system is poised to address the functional consequence of anatomical redundancy and reveal how a population of hair cells detects and transmits sensory stimuli in its native environment
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