Hyaluronic acid salt--a mechanoelectrical transducer.

Hyaluronic acid transduces a very gentle pressure into an electrical potential. Such pressure, depending on its direction, changes the optical rotary dispersion properties of the salt, either increasing the rotation in the direction already shown by the unpressured salt or changing and increasing the rotation in the opposite direction. These finding have implications for understanding the function of the cochlear and vestibular fluids, renal function, and the approximation to frictionless motion of normal joints.