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Flippase

Flippase

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Sorry to interrupt but I am an undergrad doing a research paper on the molecular applications of hearing and was wondering if anyone could put me on the right path to a layman's explanation of proteins that play a role in hair cells and specifically what is not functioning properly that induces hearing loss? I certainly would appreciate any input you all might give, thank you:)
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That's a seriously broad topic (hearing loss) that I'm not sure you'll get a decent answer to on a forum like this. The proteins involved in SNHL, to which I believe you're alluding, are not well-characterized in terms of how they function in relation to the pathophysiology of SNHL. At least not in the main journals I've been reading. Perhaps there's a resident here who recently has talked about this in their conferences.
 
Okay I will bear that in mind and try to narrow my presentation to maybe the general reaction of the hair cell with the auditory nerve. I appreciate the advice, Thank you! :)
 
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If you are looking for more info on SNHL there is a really good review written on genetics of SNHL by Richard Smith in the LANCET last year. It should be available on PUBMED. He has written a few other reviews on the topic too.

Other authors to look into for reviews would be CE Schwarts, A. Lalwani, Christine Pettit or Cynthia Morton. These mostly cover the genetics and may be a little more in depth but they should get you on the right track.
 
Thank you, I think what I am really looking for is an understanding of how once the hair cells in the Organ of Corti are stimulated and hypopolerized what is taking place to allow them to communicate with the auditory nerve so that the information can be passed along through the CNS. My presentation is for Molecular Cell Biology course and so I need to focus my subject to the "Cellular" Level. I may have bit of more than I can chew here but I very much appreciate your help. I understand how action potentials function in nerve cells and I am thinking that this is a similar process. I just need a little bit more detail, I am not certain that I want to delve into tip links and am not even sure if that is a concrete theory about their allowing K+ to enter the cell. Thanks again :idea:
 
It seems my interests lie in the condition called auditory neuropathy. Because Cochlear Implants from my understanding by pass the hair cells and stimulate the auditory nerve directly I wanted first to explain why this would be necessary or what process is not functioning properly to allow hearing to occur normally. I need to find out the name of the neurotransmitter that allows communication of the hair cells with the auditory nerve ganglions does that seem right?
 
Sorry to have bothered anyone with such a silly question ironically enough I found the answer in my Human Anatomy book and confirmed it with a google, I also stumbled accross gene PCDH15 and how it may play a role in the tip links I think that definetely constitutes getting down to the "cellular" level right? Does anybody in Oto think Hair Cells are the coolest cells ever or am I just a dorky undergrad. Well thanks and goodluck in your studies I hope to join the ranks in about oh 11 years or so!
 
You actually are just a huge dork....just kidding...outer hair cells RULE! On the other hand, inner hair cells pretty much blow.

You have touched on several topics...proteins for the hair cells, tip links, auditory neuropathy, cochlear implant mechanism, auditory neurotransmitters. All of these topics are worth looking into, but I would focus on one, not all.

As to the answer to your original question:

-There are a number of proteins that play a role in hair cell function and hearing. I would focus on one aspect, such as the outer hair cell's property of electromotility, which is unique to that cell in the body (yes, I did research on this many many years ago in med school). Google "outer hair cell" and the first few links are to Baylor's Outer Hair cell lab.
-As to what causes hearing loss from a cellular level....this is a massive topic as there are a number of causes of hearing loss.
 
I decided to focus in on Cochlear Hair Cells both Inner and Outer and actually did talk about the little cellular boogie that the outer HCs do I thought that was one of the cooler parts of my talk. Thanks so much for your guys comments and helpful suggestions just goes to show that Otolaryngologists are Da Bomb! Yes you are right I am a big dumb dork :D
 
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