Hair cells of the inner ear have stereocilia that protrude from their apical surface. Sound-induced stereocilial motion is thought to be coupled to mechanoelectrical transduction channels by means of the 'tip links' that connect stereocilia to one another. This paper reports the composition of mammalian tip links cadherin 23 and protocadherin 15 and show how the two molecules interact. Interestingly, mutation of these cadherins causes deafness in humans.
- Piotr Kazmierczak
- Hirofumi Sakaguchi
- Bechara Kachar
