Mucolipin 3 Proteins and Enzymes

SUBCELLULAR LOCATION: Membrane; Multi-pass membrane protein. TISSUE SPECIFICITY: Expressed in the cochlea; particularly in the inner and outer hair cells. DISEASE: Defects in Mcoln3 are the cause of the varitin-waddler (Va) phenotype. Classical Va mice exhibit early-onset hearing loss, vestibular defects, pigmentation abnormalities and perinatal lethality. The phenotype varitin-waddler Jackcon (Va-J), which arose in a cross segregating for Va, is similar but less severe.