The main objective of the team is the comprehensive biochemical characterization of tissues and fluids of the inner ear, and correlation with functional parameters. The mammalian inner ear is an exquisitely sensitive instrument, unrivaled in its cellular specialization and differentiation. It consists of the older vestibular system, essential for the maintenance of balance and spatial orientation, and the newer auditory system, that converts sound waves to electrical signals which are sent to the brain. Understanding of cochlear macro-and micromechanics depends on the physical, bioelectrical, and biochemical properties of constituent tissues, and pervading and surrounding fluids of the inner ear. It is the macromolecules and their interactions that endow a tissue with its specific properties.
Functional specialization is achieved through macromolecular specialization.
Although cellular metabolism reflects the integrated activity of several thousand gene products, functional diversity is conferred by relatively few. Pursuing this line of reasoning, we have focused our studies into auditory and vestibular function on a comprehensive protein inventory in general, and those proteins in particular that are selectively, if not exclusively, and abundantly expressed in cochlear tissues and fluids. We have chosen this approach rather than the more rapid identification of multiple tissue-specific genes through, for instance, subtractive screening of cDNA libraries. The latter suffers from the shortcomings that plague all fishing expeditions, i.e. low selectivity and variable efficiency. Having identified the putative candidate genes, their biological significance remains to be established.