Hair cell bundles: flexoelectric motors of the inner ear.

Microvilli (stereocilia) projecting from the apex of hair cells in the inner ear are actively motile structures that feed energy into the vibration of the inner ear and enhance sensitivity to sound.The biophysical mechanism underlying the hair bundle motor is unknown.In this study, we examined a membrane flexoelectric origin for active movements in

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AMPK Promotes Xenophagy through Priming of Autophagic Kinases upon Detection of Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles

Summary: The autophagy pathway is an essential facet of the innate immune response, capable of rapidly targeting intracellular bacteria.However, the initial signaling regulating autophagy induction in response to pathogens remains largely unclear.Here, we report that AMPK, an upstream activator of the autophagy pathway, is stimulated upon detection

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