Tricellulin is a tight-junction protein necessary for hearing.

ABSTRACT: The inner ear has fluid-filled compartments of different ionic compositions, including the endolymphatic and perilymphatic spaces of the organ of Corti; the separation from one another by epithelial barriers is required for normal hearing. TRIC encodes tricellulin, a recently discovered tight-junction (TJ) protein that contributes to the structure and function of tricellular contacts of neighboring cells in many epithelial tissues. We show that, in humans, four different recessive mutations of TRIC cause nonsyndromic deafness (DFNB49), a surprisingly limited phenotype, given the widespread tissue distribution of tricellulin in epithelial cells. In the inner ear, tricellulin is concentrated at the tricellular TJs in cochlear and vestibular epithelia, including the structurally complex and e

SUBMITTER: Riazuddin S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1698716 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature