Abstract
The ability to transduce the mechanical stimuli that initiate vertebrate hearing and balance is enabled by the stereociliary tips of inner ear hair cells, where a complex protein machine serves as a nexus for mechanosensory transduction (MT). The culmination of over two decades of work has illuminated many essential components of this protein complex, including the identification of TMC1 and TMC2, TMIE and CIB2 as obligatory subunits of hair cell MT channels. In this review, we highlight the work and history that have informed contemporary understanding of mechanosensory transduction, recent advances and challenges in characterizing MT proteins both individually and in context of the greater complex, and future directions necessary to fully understand the nature of hair cell MT and its molecular mechanisms.