Auditory transduction in the mouse.

The sensory hair cells of the mammalian cochlea transduce acoustic stimuli into auditory nerve activity. The biomechanical and molecular details of hair cell mechanotransduction are being acquired at an ever-finer level of resolution. In this review, we discuss how selected mouse mutants and transgenic models have contributed to, and will continue to shape, our understanding of the molecular basis of hair cell mechanotransduction. Functional and structural discoveries made originally in hair cells of nonmammalian vertebrates have been further pursued in the mouse inner ear, where transgenic manipulation can be applied to test molecular mechanisms. Additional insights have been obtained from mice bearing mutations in genes underlying deafness in humans. Taken together, these studies emphasize the elegance of mechanotransduction, enlarge the team of molecular players, and begin to reveal the remarkable adaptations that provide the sensitivity and temporal resolution required for mammalian hearing.