Considerable progress has been made over the past decade identifying many genes associated with deafness. With the identification of these hereditary deafness genes and the proteins they encode, molecular elements of basic hearing mechanisms emerge. As functional studies of these molecular elements become available, we can put together the pieces of the puzzle and begin to reach an understandin...

Hereditary deafness has proved to be extremely heterogeneous genetically with more than 40 genes mapped or cloned for non-syndromic dominant deafness and 30 for autosomal recessive non-syndromic deafness. In spite of significant advances in the understanding of the molecular basis of hearing loss, identifying the precise genetic cause in an individual remains difficult. Consequently, it is impo...

Clinical characteristics. Hereditary hearing loss and deafness may be conductive, sensorineural, or a combination of both; syndromic (associated with malformations of the external ear or other organs or with medical problems involving other organ systems) or nonsyndromic (no associated visible abnormalities of the external ear or any related medical problems); and prelingual (before language de...

In the past two years, considerable progress has been made in the mapping and cloning of human deafness genes. Highlights are the chromosomal localization of at least five genes for autosomal forms of non-syndromic deafness and, more recently, the cloning of an X-linked deafness gene, DFN3, and the Usher syndrome type IB gene. This last gene encodes a myosin-like protein and was identified as t...

Unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL)/single-side deafness (SSD) is a frequently encountered disability in children. The etiology of a substantial portion of USNHL/SSD still remains unknown, and genetic causes have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, the authors evaluated the heritability of USNHL/SSD.The authors sequentially recruited 50 unrelated children with SSD. For an etio...

In mammals, four different genes encode four PMCA (plasma-membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase) isoforms. PMCA1 and 4 are expressed ubiquitously, and PMCA2 and 3 are expressed predominantly in the central nervous system. More than 30 variants are generated by mechanisms of alternative splicing. The physiological meaning of the existence of so many isoforms is not clear, but evidently it must be related to th...