Scientists discover mechanism of hearing nature
"This is the last sensory system in which that fundamental molecular machinery has remained unknown," said senior author Eric Gouaux, Ph.D., senior scientist with the OHSU Vollum Institute and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator."The molecular machinery that carries out this absolutely amazing process has been unresolved for decades.
The discovery reveals the architecture of the inner ear complex that converts vibrations into electrical impulses that the brain translates as sound. Known as mechanosensory transduction, the process is responsible for the sensations of balance and sound. Hearing loss can be inherited through gene mutations that alter the proteins comprising the mechanosensory transduction complex. Or it can occur from damage, including sustained exposure to loud noise. In either case, OHSU researchers' discovery allows scientists to visualize the complex for the first time.
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