Tympanic duct Tympanic duct The tympanic duct or scala tympani is one of the perilymph-filled cavities in the inner ear of the human. It is separated from the cochlear duct by the basilar membrane, and it extends from the round window to the helicotrema, where it continues as vestibular duct. The purpose of the perilymph-filled tympanic duct and vestibular duct is to transduce the movement of air that causes the tympanic membrane and the ossicles to vibrate, to movement of liquid and the basilar membrane. This movement is conveyed to the organ of Corti inside the cochlear duct, composed of hair cells
Membrane curvature several amphipathic alpha helices that allows it to partition between the hydrophobic core of the membrane and surrounding aqueous, hydrophilic environment. Another interesting characteristic of epsin and other proteins that bind to membranes is the fact that it shows high binding affinity for a fairly common membrane lipid, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI-4,5-P2). Unlike other proteins that simply bend the membrane through sheer rigidity, epsin is a globular soluble protein and thus not rigid. The insertion of its helices into the membrane force the neighboring lipids of the leaflet that has been bound to expand laterally. This displacement of lipids on only