A research team at the Philipps University of Marburg has discovered a previously unknown protein that plays a central role in human hearing. The protein TMEM145 is an essential component of the outer hair cells in the inner ear and ensures the mechanical connection of the sensory hairs with the tectorial membrane.

This connection is a prerequisite for the outer hair cells to act as a biological amplifier and to be able to make very quiet sounds audible. If the protein is missing, the hair cells lose their stable coupling to the tectorial membrane. In genetically modified mice, this leads to severe hearing loss and the failure of the auditory cochlea’s amplifier function.

The team led by Dennis Derstroff and Prof. Dr. Katrin Reimann from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Prof. Dr. Dominik Oliver from the Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology was able to show that TMEM145 forms a ring-shaped structure at the tips of the stereocilia and takes over the mechanical organization there.

The results provide new insights into the mechanism of hearing and could become relevant for the diagnosis and treatment of hearing disorders in the long term. TMEM145 is another candidate gene for genetic hearing loss. The mouse model also points to a therapeutic window in which gene therapy approaches could still be effective before permanent damage occurs.

The study is an example of the close interlocking of clinical medicine and basic molecular research at the University of Marburg. It was developed in close cooperation with international partners, including Harvard Medical School in Boston and University College London. The work was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the British Medical Research Council and the National Institutes of Health (USA).

The results were published in the journal “Neuron”.

Original Paper:

TMEM145 is a principal component of outer hair cell stereocilia: Neuron

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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