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Auditory amplification: outer hair cells pres the issue
Gwénaëlle S G Géléoc1, Jeffrey R Holt
1Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia, PO Box 801392, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
Trends in Neurosciences
|February 20, 2003
Abstract:
Active feedback mechanisms in the ears of mammals amplify and tune the auditory response to sound stimuli, allowing these organisms to enjoy both exquisite sensitivity and sharp frequency selectivity. A requisite component of this feedback pathway has recently been identified. Targeted deletion of pres, the gene that encodes the novel membrane-bound motor protein prestin, has revealed a hundred-fold loss in hearing sensitivity suggesting that it might be part of the elusive cochlear amplifier.