A cytoskeleton structure revealed by super-resolution fluorescence imaging in inner ear hair cells

F-actin is expressed in almost all cells, and plays a variety of important roles 1 , 2 . In the cuticular plate of hair cells, they are thought to be critical in mammalian hearing by holding the stereocilia rootlets in place and providing the rigidity and support necessary for auditory transduction 3 , 4 . Due to the high spatial resolution and molecular specificity, the F-actin structure in several types of cells has been recently revealed by super-resolution fluorescence imaging 5 , 6 . However, how F-actin performs their function in inner ear hair cells remains elusive, partly due to an incomplete understanding of their structure. Here we applied structured illumination microscopy (SIM) imaging to study the sub-diffraction-limit structures of F-actin in the cuticular plate of rodents in order to better understand their function in the development of hearing.