Scientists at Oregon State University have taken an important step toward gene therapy for deaf patients by developing a way to better study a large protein essential for hearing and finding a truncated version of it.
Mutations in the protein, otoferlin, are linked to severe congenital hearing loss, a common type of deafness in which patients can hear almost nothing.
The research suggests otoferlin, which is in the cochlea of the inner ear, acts as a calcium-sensitive linker protein.
