TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stöver, Timo
A1  - Diensthuber, Marc
T1  - Molecular biology of hearing
T2  - GMS Current topics in otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery
N2  - The inner ear is our most sensitive sensory organ and can be subdivided into three functional units: organ of Corti, stria vascularis and spiral ganglion. The appropriate stimulus for the organ of hearing is sound, which travels through the external auditory canal to the middle ear where it is transmitted to the inner ear. The inner ear houses the hair cells, the sensory cells of hearing. The inner hair cells are capable of mechanotransduction, the transformation of mechanical force into an electrical signal, which is the basic principle of hearing. The stria vascularis generates the endocochlear potential and maintains the ionic homeostasis of the endolymph. The dendrites of the spiral ganglion form synaptic contacts with the hair cells. The spiral ganglion is composed of neurons that transmit the electrical signals from the cochlea to the central nervous system. In recent years there has been significant progress in research on the molecular basis of hearing. An increasing number of genes and proteins related to hearing are being identified and characterized. The growing knowledge of these genes contributes not only to greater appreciation of the mechanism of hearing but also to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of hereditary hearing loss. This basic research is a prerequisite for the development of molecular diagnostics and novel therapies for hearing loss.
KW  - inner ear
KW  - cochlea
KW  - hair cell
KW  - organ of Corti
KW  - spiral ganglion
KW  - deafness
Y1  - 2012
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/27009
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-270099
SN  - 1865-1011
N1  - © 2012 Stöver et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.
VL  - 10.2011
IS  - Doc06
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - gms
CY  - Düsseldorf
ER  -