NIH Researchers Identify Key Proteins of Inner Ear Transduction Channel

National Institutes of Health-funded researchers have identified two proteins that may be the key components of the long-sought after mechanotransduction channel in the inner ear—the place where the mechanical stimulation of sound waves is transformed into electrical signals that the brain recognizes as sound. The NIDCD's Andrew J. Griffith, M.D., Ph.D., and Jeffrey R. Holt, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital, co-led the team that published the findings.

"For many years, the NIDCD has funded research using genetic approaches to discover and analyze genes underlying hereditary deafness," said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIDCD. "We believed these studies would also help us identify genes and proteins that are critical for normal hearing. Now our efforts appear to be paying off, in this discovery of integral components in the mechanotransduction complex."

NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientific discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, see the Web site at www.nidcd.nih.gov.