Lavanya Rajagopalan, Ph.D.

The Research

Baylor College of Medicine

The structural and functional basis of electromotility in prestin, the outer ear amplifier protein

Prestin, a membrane protein in outer hair cells in the cochlea, is involved in cochlear amplification leading to frequency sensitivity. The long-term objectives of this study are to understand the molecular basis of prestin function, to advance the field closer to designing therapeutics in certain types of hearing loss. This will provide insight into the molecular basis of prestin-related hearing loss, and can lead to rational design of therapeutics to treat such conditions.