Cell biology of mechanotransduction in inner-ear hair cells.
The cloning of deafness genes, especially those for Usher syndrome, has helped to identify a variety of structural proteins involved in the development and function of hair-cell stereocilia. These include novel cadherins, a handful of myosin motors, and scaffolding proteins. Yet a new understanding of these proteins has upended the orthodox view of mechanosensation by hair cells.
Corey
David P
DP
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA. dcorey@hms.harvard.edu