Researchers identify two forms of molecular motor protein necessary for hearing
A research team led by scientists at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has discovered that a protein essential for building key hearing structures in the inner ear also plays a critical role in maintaining them throughout life. The researchers report that healthy hearing involves two distinct forms of a molecular motor protein called myosin 15 (MYO15A)—one form that helps build stereocilia, and a second, much longer, version of the protein that is needed to maintain stereocilia. Stereocilia are the finger-like projections that extend from the surface of hair cells, the inner ear's sensory cells.
This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022