A MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR HYPOTHESIS FOR AMINOGLYCOSIDE-INDUCED DEAFNESS

The ototoxic effects of aminoglycoside antibiotics are well known. How ever, a molecular and cellular mechanism for the death of cochlear hai r cells has remained difficult to prove. Human genetic studies have sh own that a rare trait for hypersensitivity to aminoglycosides is confe rred by mitochondrial genetic variation. Recently, a gene involved has been identified as the mitochondrial small ribosomal RNA gene, consis tent with the known mechanism of aminoglycoside action against bacteri a. We used the existing data as a basis for our hypothesis of a molecu lar and cellular model for aminoglycoside ototoxicity that is describe d in this paper.