Robert Fettiplace

 

 

The First Step in Hearing: Mechanotransduction by Auditory Hair Cells

E-mail: fettiplace@physiology.wisc.edu

Research Strengths: Molecular Neuroscience, Perception and Movement

My research focuses on the physiology of hair cells isolated from the inner ear and studied with patch clamp recording and optical imaging. This research has provided descriptions of the mechanosensory transduction mechanism, the membrane channels involved in frequency tuning, and the regulatory roles of intracellular calcium. My current interest lies with the outer hair cells of the mammalian cochlea, the mechanotransducer channels and the mechanism of force generation by the stereociliary bundle that may underlie amplification and tuning of the auditory signal.

Selected Publications:

• Ricci, A.J., H.J. Kennedy, A.C. Crawford and R. Fettiplace. 2005. The kinetics of mechanotransducer currents in auditory hair cells. J. Neurosci. 25: 7831-7839.
• Kennedy, H.J, A.C. Crawford, and R. Fettiplace. 2005. Force generation by mammalian hair bundles supports a role in cochlear amplification. Nature 433: 880-883.
• Ricci, A.J., A.C. Crawford, and R. Fettiplace. 2003. Tonotopic variation in the conductance of the hair cell mechanotransducer channel. Neuron 40: 983-990.
• Fettiplace, R. and A.J. Ricci. 2003. Adaptation in auditory hair cells. Curr. Op. Neurobiol. 13: 446-451.
• Kennedy, H.J., M.G. Evans, A.C. Crawford and R. Fettiplace. 2003. Fast adaptation of mechanoelectrical transducer channels in mammalian cochlear hair cells. Nat. Neurosci. 6: 832-836.
• Fettiplace, R., A.J. Ricci, and C.M. Hackney. 2001. Clues to the cochlear amplifier from the turtle ear. Trends Neurosci. 24: 176-181. [PDF]
• Ricci, A.J., A.C. Crawford, and R. Fettiplace. 2000. Active hair bundle motion linked to fast transducer adaptation in auditory hair cells. J. Neurosci. 20: 7131-7142. [PDF]
• Ricci, A.J., Y-C. Wu, and R. Fettiplace. 1998. The endogenous calcium buffer and the time course of transducer adaptation in auditory hair cells. J. Neurosci. 18: 8261-8277. [PDF]
• Fettiplace, R. and P.A. Fuchs. 1999. Mechanisms of hair cell tuning. Ann. Rev. Physiol. 61: 809-834. [PDF]
• Jones, E.M.C., M. Gray-Keller, and R. Fettiplace. 1999. The role of Ca2+-activated K + channel splice variants in the tonotopic organization of the turtle cochlea. J. Physiol. 518: 653-665. [PDF]