Abstract: Cochlear outer hair cells are crucial for active hearing. These cells have a unique form of motility, named electromotility, whose main features are the cell’s length changes, active force ...

Abstract: Here, we analyze energy transformations in the outer hair cell and its effectiveness as a piezoelectric-type actuator in the cochlea. The major modes of energy are introduced, and a method to ...

Abstract: Endothelial cells possess a mechanical network connecting adhesions on the basal surface, the cytoskeleton, and the nucleus. Transmission of force at adhesions via this pathway can deform the ...

Abstract: We consider the mechanical properties of the outer hair cell cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is represented as a set of microdomains of different sizes and orientations composed of actin filaments ...

Abstract: We investigated the mechanotransduction pathway in endothelial cells between their nucleus and adhesions to the extracellular matrix. First, we measured nuclear deformations in response to alterations ...

Abstract: Cell membrane tethers are formed naturally (e.g., in leukocyte rolling) and experimentally to probe membrane properties. In cochlear outer hair cells, the plasma membrane is part of the trilayer ...