Abstract Venus flytrap can sense the very small insects that touch its tactile receptors, known as trigger hairs, and thus capture prey to maintain nutrient demand. However, there are few studies on hair morphological structure material properties not fully understood. In this study, is systematically characterized with help of different instruments. Results show a special cantilever beam it ha...

Evolution has transformed a simple ear with few vestibular maculae into a complex three-dimensional structure consisting of nine distinct endorgans. It is debatable whether the sensory epithelia underwent progressive segregation or emerged from distinct sensory patches. To address these uncertainties we examined the morphological and functional phenotype of trans-differentiated rat hair cells t...

Loss of mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear accounts for many hearing loss and balance disorders. Several beneficial pharmaceutical drugs cause hair cell death as a side effect. These include aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as neomycin, kanamycin and gentamicin, and several cancer chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin. Discovering new compounds that protect mammalian hair cells from tox...

To look for membrane potential oscillations that may contribute to sensory coding or amplification in the ear, we made whole-cell and perforated-patch recordings from hair cells and postsynaptic afferent neurites in the explanted frog sacculus, with mechanoelectrical transduction (MET) blocked. Small depolarizing holding currents, which may serve to replace the in vivo resting MET current, evok...

Primary cicatricial alopecia (PCA) is a group of inflammatory hair disorders that cause scarring and permanent hair loss. Previous studies have implicated PPARγ, a transcription factor that integrates lipogenic and inflammatory signals, in the pathogenesis of PCA. However, it is unknown what triggers the inflammatory response in these disorders, whether the inflammation is a primary or secondar...

Objective: To report alopecia universalis (AU) as an adverse effect of adalimumab that has not yet been documented in literature. Case Summary: A 50-year-old male was diagnosed with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and was commenced on adalimumab subcutaneous injections biweekly. The psoriatic skin lesions and arthritis showed improvement. However, one year later he lost all his body hair incl...

Two types of sensory hair cells in the mammalian cochlea signal through anatomically distinct populations of spiral ganglion afferent neurons. The solitary inner hair cell ribbon synapse uses multivesicular release to trigger action potentials that encode acoustic timing, intensity, and frequency in each type I afferent. In contrast, cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) have a far weaker effect on ...