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

Key points The aim was to determine whether detachment of the tectorial membrane (TM) from the organ of Corti in Tecta/Tectb−/− mice affects the biophysical properties of cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs). Tecta/Tectb−/− mice have highly elevated hearing thresholds, but OHCs mature normally. Mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channel resting open probability (Po) in mature OHC is ∼50% in endolymphatic [Ca2+], resulting in a large standing depolarizing MET current that would allow OHCs to act optimally as electromotile cochlear amplifiers. MET channel resting Po in vivo is also high in Tecta/Tectb−/− mice, indicating that the TM is unlikely to statically bias the hair bundles of OHCs. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), a readout of active, MET‐dependent, non‐linear cochlear amplification in OHCs, fail to exhibit long‐lasting adaptation to repetitive stimulation in Tecta/Tectb−/− mice. We conclude that during prolonged, sound‐induced stimulation of the cochlea the TM may determine the extracellular Ca2+ concentration near the OHC's MET channels. 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 ot