a genetic basis for mechanosensory traits in humans人类mechanosensory性状的遗传基础.pdfVIP

A Genetic Basis for Mechanosensory Traits in Humans 1 ¨ 2 2 ¨ 2 3 1 Henning Frenzel , Jorg Bohlender , Katrin Pinsker , Barbel Wohlleben , Jens Tank , Stefan G. Lechner , 2 4 ¨ 5 5 3 ´ ´ 4 Daniela Schiska , Teresa Jaijo , Franz Ruschendorf , Kathrin Saar , Jens Jordan , Jose M. Millan , 2 1 Manfred Gross , Gary R. Lewin * ¨ ´ 1 Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany, 2 Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charite ¨ Universitatsmedizin, Berlin, Germany, 3 Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, 4 Genetics Unit, Hospital Universitario La Fe, ¨ and CIBERER, Valencia, Spain, 5 Experimental Genetics of Cardiovascular Disease, Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany Abstract In all vertebrates hearing and touch represent two distinct sensory systems that both rely on the transformation of mechanical force into electrical signals. There is an extensive literature describing single gene mutations in humans that cause hearing impairment, but there are essentially none for touch. Here we first asked if touch sensitivity is a heritable trait and second whether there are common genes that influence different mechanosensory senses like hearing and to