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In the inner ear, stereocilia are the mechanosensing organelles of hair cells, which respond to fluid motion in numerous types of animals for various functions, including hearing and balance. They are about 10–50 micrometers in length and share some similar features of microvilli . [ 1 ]
Stereocilia (or stereovilli or villi) are non-motile apical cell modifications. They are distinct from cilia and microvilli , but are closely related to microvilli. They form single "finger-like" projections that may be branched, with normal cell membrane characteristics.
In mammals, the auditory hair cells are located within the spiral organ of Corti on the thin basilar membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear. They derive their name from the tufts of stereocilia called hair bundles that protrude from the apical surface of the cell into the fluid-filled cochlear duct.
The destruction of microvilli can actually be beneficial sometimes, as in the case of elimination of microvilli on white blood cells which can be used to combat auto immune diseases. [6] Congenital lack of microvilli in the intestinal tract causes microvillus atrophy, a rare, usually fatal condition found in new-born babies.
The cells interdigitate with each other, and project microvilli into the intercellular space. They are supporting cells for the auditory hair cells in the organ of Corti. They are named after German pathologist Arthur Böttcher (1831–1889). Claudius' cells are found in the organ of Corti located above rows of Boettcher's cells. Like Boettcher ...
The arrows indicate the local on-directions of the hair cells; and the thick black lines indicate the location of the striola. On the right you see a cross-section through the otolith membrane. The otolithic membrane is part of the otolith organs in the vestibular system. The otolith organs include the utricle and the saccule.
Humans have two otolithic organs on each side, one called the utricle, the other called the saccule. The utricle contains a patch of hair cells and supporting cells called a macula. Similarly, the saccule contains a patch of hair cells and a macula. Each hair cell of a macula has forty to seventy stereocilia and one true cilium called a ...
Together with stereocilia, the kinocilium regulates depolarization and hyperpolarization of the hair cell, which is a neuron that can generate action potentials. When the stereocilia and kinocilium move further apart, the cell hyperpolarizes. When they move closer together, the cell depolarizes and may fire an action potential. [1]