KCNA3 and deafness: In congenital sensorineural deafness in Dalmatians, as in mouse mutants and white cats, the lack of melanocytes in the stria vascularis occurs in the embryo, and this lack of strial melanocytes leads to dysfunction of potassium channels, subsequent unrecordable endocochlear potentials and consequent severe deafness in the affected ear [23].