Characterization and Identification of Expressed Genes in Guinea Pig Cochlea

Abstract

Recent experiments have shown that the outer hair cell (OHC) can elongate and contract in response to changes in membrane potential. This mechanical change is suggested to be driven by a voltage-sensitive 'motor' protein embedded in the basolateral membrane of the OHC. However, the motor protein has been unidentified yet. Therefore, in this study, in order to look for candidate genes of the unknown protein, a cDNA library of guinea pig organ of Corti was constructed. After sequencing and tissue distribution analysis, two putative novel genes were found.