Otoancorin (OTOA)

Otoancorin is specifically expressed in the inner ear, and is located at the interface between the apical surface of the inner ear sensory epithelia and their overlying acellular gels. It is prposed that this protein is involved in the attachment of the inner ear acellular gels to the apical surface of the underlying nonsensory cells. Mutations in this gene are associated with autosomal recessive deafness type 22 (DFNB22). Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.The predicted 1,153-amino acid human protein is 77% identical to the mouse protein. Mouse Otoa has a signal peptide, 11 potential N-glycosylation sites, and a C-terminal sequence characteristic of GPI-linked membrane-bound proteins. RT-PCR analysis detected expression of mouse Otoa only in the inner ear.