Nonreceptor Protein Kinases and Phosphatases Necessary for Auditory Function

Abstract

Phosphorylation is one of the most common posttranslational protein modifications. It has multiple roles in cell signaling during development as well as for maintenance of diverse functions of an organism. Protein kinases and phosphatases control phosphorylation and play critical roles in cellular processes from cell birth to cell death. Discovery of hearing-loss-associated gene variants in humans and the study of animal models have identified a crucial role of a plethora of protein phosphatases and kinases in the inner ear. In this review, those nonreceptor kinases or phosphatases are discussed, which are encoded by genes implicated in causing inherited hearing loss in humans or in mouse mutants. These studies have served to highlight the essential roles of protein kinases and phosphatases pathways to the function of the auditory system. However, the inner-ear-specific substrates for most of these enzymes remain to be discovered, as do the mechanisms of disease due to the variants in the genes that encode these proteins.