MET currents and otoacoustic emissions from mice with a detached tectorial membrane indicate the extracellular matrix regulates Ca2+ near stereocilia

The tectorial membrane (TM) is an acellular structure of the cochlea that is attached to the stereociliary bundles of the outer hair cells (OHCs), electromotile cells that amplify motion of the cochlear partition and sharpen its frequency selectivity. Although the TM is essential for hearing, its role is still not fully understood. In Tecta/Tectb−/− double knockout mice, in which the TM is not coupled to the OHC stereocilia, hearing sensitivity is considerably reduced compared with that of wild‐type animals. In vivo, the OHC receptor potentials, assessed using cochlear microphonics, are symmetrical in both wild‐type and Tecta/Tectb−/− mice, indicating that the TM does not bias the hair bundle resting position. The functional maturation of hair cells is also unaffected in Tecta/Tectb−/− mice, and the resting open probability of the mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channel reaches values of ∼50% when the hair bundles of mature OHCs are bathed in an endolymphatic‐like Ca2+ concentration (40 μM) in vitro. The resultant large MET current depolarizes OHCs to near –40 mV, a value that would allow optimal activation of the motor protein prestin and normal cochlear amplification. Although the set point of the OHC receptor potential transfer function in vivo may therefore be determined primarily by endolymphatic Ca2+ concentration, repetitive acoustic stimulation fails to produce adaptation of MET‐dependent otoacoustic emissions in vivo in the Tecta/Tectb−/− mice. Therefore, the TM is likely to contribute to the regulation of Ca2+ levels around the stereocilia, and thus adaptation of the OHC MET channel during prolonged sound stimulation.