Researchers in Göttingen have elucidated the structure and function of otoferlin, a protein that plays a crucial role in the hearing process. If otoferlin is missing or its function is impaired, this causes a common form of early childhood deafness. The results, published in the journal Science Advances, mark a milestone after more than two decades of research on otoferlin at Göttingen Campus and contribute to optimising the first gene therapies for the treatment of deafness.
You can find the press release here.
Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser, Director of the Institute for Auditory Neuroscience at Göttingen University Medical Center (UMG), spokesperson for the Göttingen Cluster of Excellence “Multiscale Bioimaging: From Molecular Machines to Networks of Excitable Cells” (MBExC) and spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1690 “Disease Mechanisms and Functional Restoration of Sensory and Motor Systems” (left; photo: umg/frank stefan kimmel), and Dr. Han Chen, former research associate at the Institute of Auditory Neuroscience at UMG (right; photo: han chen).
