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Cover picture: Composite picture of hair cell stereocilia and mechanotransducer currents in turtle auditory hair cells. Transmission electron micrograph of three stereocilia shows the tip-links believed to deliver force to the mechanotransducer channels (top left). The theoretical calcium gradients around the transducer channels are depicted in pseudocolor with red the highest and blue the lowest concentration (top right). Bottom, Mechanotransducer currents for small positive (yellow) and negative (blue) 50 msec deflections of the stereociliary bundle. By an incompletely characterized mechanism, calcium entering through open transducer channels exerts a negative-feedback action on the channels that can produce damped oscillatory currents and cause tranduction to be frequency tuned. For details, see article by Ricci et al., in this issue (pages 8261-8277).
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