Quantitative analysis of tip links after treatment with BAPTA or elastase
| Treatment | Proportions overall | Proportions of visible sites | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possible sites | Obscured sites | Fused sites | Visible sites | Intact tip links | Absent tip links | Remnant tip links | Broken tip links | Uncertain tip links | |
| Control | 433 | 64 (15%) | 17 (4%) | 352 (81%) | 106 (30%) | 118 (34%) | 25 (7%) | 71 (20%) | 32 (9%) |
| BAPTA short | 514 | 42 (8.2%) | 47 (9.1%) | 425 (83%) | 33 (7.8%) | 352 (83%) | 13 (3.1%) | 3 (0.7%) | 24 (5.6%) |
| BAPTA long | 437 | 24 (5.5%) | 60 (14%) | 353 (81%) | 5 (1.4%) | 316 (90%) | 23 (6.5%) | 0 (0%) | 9 (2.6%) |
| Elastase | 160 | 15 (9.4%) | 23 (14%) | 122 (76%) | 3 (2.5%) | 114 (93%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (4.1%) |
Hair cells were treated with HBSS (Control), 5 mM BAPTA for 10 sec (short) or 10 min (long), or 20 U/ml elastase. Possible sites of tip links were either obscured, fused, or visible. In the visible sites, the tip links were either intact, absent (with no evidence of any tip-link material), remnant (i.e., stumps attached to a stereocilium), broken, or of uncertain presence. Numbers are given as total counts and percentages (in parentheses) as a function of possible sites (for obscured, fused, and visible) or visible sites (for intact, absent, remnant, broken, and uncertain).