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Cover picture: Side-view hair cells from the semicircular canal demonstrating the presence of the TRPA1 channel on the mechanosensory bundles of stereocilia. The kinocilia, which presumably are not mechanosensory, are labeled in blue (for α-tubulin). TRPA1, labeled in red, is detected in the apical side of the epithelium (a presumed repository or transduction component) and also in the mechanosensory stereocilia (labeled in green for actin). The bottom part of these very long bundles, which contain the tips of numerous shorter stereocilia, labels somewhat more strongly for TRPA1 (yellow), which is also detected on the longer stereocilia, as can be more clearly seen in Figure 3n of the manuscript. Thus the localization of TRPA1 is consistent with the occurrence of transduction at the tips of stereocilia. Accordingly, TRPA1 displays channel properties of the hair cell transducer and probably forms its pore. In addition, TRPA1 is present in most nociceptors and is thought to play a parallel role in pain transduction. For details, see the article by Nagata et al. in this issue (pages 4052-4061).
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