New in JBC press| Scientists examine the effects of conditional knockouts of alpha2 spectrin in postnatal outer hair cells.

asbmbJBC.

Electromotility in mammalian outer hair cells (OHC) is the mechanism underlying cochlear amplification. It is brought about by the piezoelectric-like property of the membrane protein prestin (Slc26a5) that lies in the OHCs lateral plasma membrane. Prestin connects to an underlying cytoskeletal network of circumferential actin filaments that bridge longitudinal spectrin filaments. This network, in turn, lies between the plasma membrane and a closely apposed ER-like tubular array of subsurface cisternae (SSC).