Is the Utricular Striola Specialized to Encode High Frequency Stimuli?
2011
Sams, David A.
The vestibular system comprises morphologically and physiologically distinct hair cells and afferent neurons. These hair cells and afferent neurons respond heterogeneously to stimuli as a function of their position on the vestibular sensory epithelium. To date, little is known about the cellular sources of this signal heterogeneity within the hair cells and afferent neurons of the vestibular system. This thesis explores regional differences in pre- and post-synaptic proteins that may play a role in producing signal heterogeneity within the utricle of the turtle, Trachemys scripta. Immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, and three-dimensional reconstructions of the vestibular system were used to quantify sizes, frequencies, and colocalization between synaptic ribbons and the GluR4 subunit of the AMPA receptor.Notable results of my research include increased sizes of synaptic ribbons, increased frequencies of synaptic ribbons and GluR4 subunits, and increased colocalization between synaptic ribbons and GluR4 subunits within striolar Zone 2 of the turtle utricle. These results support previous work characterizing striolar regions of the vestibular system as being preferentially suited to encode high frequency stimuli.
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