Recent Research and News
Proteins Linked to Congenital Deafness Help Build, Maintain Stereocilia in the Inner Ear
Scanning electron micrograph of the surface of the frog inner ear sensory epithelium showing the staircase-shaped stereocilia towering above other surface structures. Bar equals 1 µm. Photo courtesy of C. Graydon and L. Andrade, NIDCD.
If the inner ear were a city, then stereocilia could be considered the flashy, high-rise buildings making up the skyline. Protruding from the tops of sensory cells, called hair cells, inside the inner ear, stereocilia are composed of long filaments of actin, a robust protein that also assists in muscle contraction, cell division, and other cellular activities. They are also the site at which sound vibrations entering the ear are converted into electrical signals that travel to the brain, so scientists want to know more about how stereocilia are constructed.
NIDCD researcher Bechara Kachar, M.D., and others have now learned that two proteins that have been implicated in some forms of inherited deafness are responsible for building and maintaining these exquisitely formed structures. The research is published in the March 15, 2009, advance online publication of Nature Cell Biology.
Read the NIDCD article on the Web. Learn more about Dr. Kachar’s research.
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