Gowri Nayak, Ph.D.
Meet the Researcher
Gowri Nayak, Ph.D. completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in India and received her Ph.D. degree in hearing research from the University of Sussex, England. Nayak is currently a research fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati.
The Research
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Signaling defects due to Tricellulin deficiency
Mutations in a protein called Tricellulin lead to hereditary hearing loss in humans and degeneration of cochlear sensory cells and deafness in mice. In the inner ear, Tricellulin is found in the sensory epithelia at sites where three epithelial cells meet. The localization of Tricellulin at the junction between cells gives it the potential to respond to external cues and transmit the signals to the cell interior. The current project aims at uncovering the potential cellular signaling roles of Tricellulin by determining the gene expression changes in the inner ear of Tricellulin mutant mice compared to wild-type mice. The results of this study will not only add to the existing knowledge of the inner ear development and maintenance but also will examine the direct effects of losing a protein that helps preserve our hearing.
Research area: Fundamental Auditory Research
Long-term goal of research: To determine the role of cell junction proteins in the inner ear function and elucidate the biological processes that are affected by genetic mutations in these proteins. As tight junctions are also the focus of drug delivery studies, it is valuable to realize the cellular functions of the associated proteins so that they can be manipulated for therapeutic purposes.