Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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 58,342 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This review presents some of the major historical events that advanced the body of knowledge of the anatomy of the inner ear and its sensory receptors as well as the biology of these receptors that underlies the sensory functions of hearing and balance. This knowledge base of the inner ear's structure/function has been an essential factor for the design and construction of prosthetic devices to aid patients with deficits in their senses of hearing and balance. Prosthetic devices are now available for severely hearing impaired and deaf patients to restore hearing and are known as cochlear implants and auditory brain stem implants. A prosthetic device for patients with balance disorders is being perfected and is in an animal model testing phase with another prosthetic device for controlling intractable dizziness in Meniere's patients currently being evaluated in clinical testing. None of this would have been possible without the pioneering studies and discoveries of the investigators mentioned in this review and with the work of many other talented investigators to numerous to be covered in this review.
Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2012 Nov
PMID:Historical Aspects of Inner Ear Anatomy and Biology that Underlie the Design of Hearing and Balance Prosthetic Devices. 2304 52

Mitochondrial degeneration in the inner ear is likely a contributing factor in age-related hearing loss and other otopathologies such as Meniere's disease. Most mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol and imported through the mitochondrial membranes by translocators. The translocase of the outer membrane (Tom) is the universal entry gate for all proteins that are imported into mitochondria. Altered function of the translocator could alter protein transport into the mitochondria, and disrupt function. In this study, we determined the immunolocalization of Tom20, a major mitochondrial protein import receptor, in microdissected human cochlea frozen sections obtained from postmortem autopsy and celloidin-embedded archival specimens. We used affinity purified rabbit polyclonal antibodies against Tom20. We also determined the Tom20 immunolocalization in the mouse inner ear. In the human and mouse cochlea, Tom20 was ubiquitously distributed in the organ of Corti, allowing well-delineated visualization of inner and outer hair cells. Tom20 immunoreactivity localized in the cytoplasm of spiral ganglia neurons. In the inner ear of aged subjects with Meniere's disease, there was decreased expression of Tom20. These results suggest that Tom20 can be used in the inner ear as a marker for mitochondrial protein import.
Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2013 Feb
PMID:Immunocytochemical localization of the translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (Tom20) in the human cochlea. 2316 76