Robert Fettiplace

Steenbock Professor of Neural and Behavioral Sciences
Ph.D., 1974, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England

Contact Information
Email: fettiplace@physiology.wisc.edu
(608) 262-9320 Phone
(608) 265-5512 Fax

Research Interests

My research focuses on the physiology of hair cells isolated from the inner ear and studied with patch clamp recording and optical imaging. This research has provided descriptions of the mechanosensory transduction mechanism, the membrane channels involved in frequency tuning, and the regulatory roles of intracellular calcium. My current interest lies with the outer hair cells of the mammalian cochlea, the mechanotransducer channels and the mechanism of force generation by the stereociliary bundle that may underlie amplification and tuning of the auditory signal. .

Figure: Confocal images of an isolated auditory hair cell before (left) and during (right) a depolarization to open calcium channels. The hotspots show the sites of calcium entry thought to be at the synaptic release sites. The hair cell was stained with the fluorescent dye, Calcium Green 5N.

Selected Publications:

• Fettiplace, R. & Hackney C.M. (2006) The sensory and motor roles of auditory hair cells. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7:19-29.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Ricci, A.J., Kennedy, H.J., Crawford, A.C. & Fettiplace, R. (2005) The kinetics of mechanotransducer currents in auditory hair cells. J. Neuroscience 25:7831-7839.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Hackney C.M, Mahendrasingam S., Penn, A. & Fettiplace, R. (2005) The concentrations of calcium buffering proteins in mammalian cochlear hair cells. J. Neuroscience 25:7867-7886.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Kennedy, H.J, Crawford A.C. & Fettiplace, R. (2005) Force generation by mammalian hair bundles supports a role in cochlear amplification. Nature 433:880-883.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Ricci, A.J., Crawford, A.C. Fettiplace, R. (2003) Tonotopic variation in the conductance of the hair cell mechanotransducer channel. Neuron 40: 983-990.
  Abstract | Full Text
   
• Hackney, C.M., Mahendrasingam, S., Jones, E.M.C. & Fettiplace, R. (2003) The distribution of calcium buffering proteins in auditory hair cells. Journal of Neuroscience 23: 4577-4589.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Fettiplace, R. & Ricci, A.J. (2003) Adaptation in auditory hair cells. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 13: 446-451.
   
• Kennedy, H.J., Evans, M.G., Crawford, A.C. & Fettiplace, R. (2003) Fast adaptation of mechanoelectrical transducer channels in mammalian cochlear hair cells. Nature Neuroscience 6: 832-836..
  Full Text | PDF
   
• Fettiplace, R., Ricci, A.J. & Hackney, C.M. (2001) Clues to the cochlear amplifier from the turtle ear. Trends in Neuroscience 24: 169-175.
   
• Ricci, A.J., Crawford A.C. & Fettiplace, R. (2000) Active hair bundle motion linked to fast transducer adaptation in auditory hair cells. Journal of Neuroscience 20: 7131-7142.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   
• Fettiplace R. & Fuchs, P.A. (1999) Mechanisms of hair cell tuning. Annual Reviews of Physiology 61: 809-834.
  Abstract | Full Text | PDF
   

top