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Science 25 August 1967:
Vol. 157. no. 3791, pp. 949 - 950
DOI: 10.1126/science.157.3791.949
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Articles

Cochlear Function and Sodium and Potassium Activated Adenosine Triphosphatase

W. Kuijpers 1, A. C. Van der Vleuten 1, and S. L. Bonting 2

1 Department of Otolaryngology
2 Department of Biochemistry, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands

The maintenance of the cation gradients between endolymph and perilymph in the cochlea requires the operation of a cation pump. An adenosine triphosphatase system activated by sodium and potassium is present in high activity in the cochlear membranes (tegmentum vasculosum and stria vascularis). The cochlear microphonic potential is inhibited by perilymphatic perfusion of ouabain and erythrophleine. Since the microphonic potential depends on the high concentration of potassium ions in the endolymph, our findings strongly suggest the operation of an adenosine triphosphatase cation pump system activated by sodium and potassium, in the generation of cochlear cation gradients.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ouabain and Streptomycin: Their Different Loci of Action on Saccular Hair Cells in Goldfish.
S. Matsuura, K. Ikeda, and T. Furukawa (1968)
Science 160, 1117-1119
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)