CEACAM16 and deafness: If the dominant, deafness-causing mutations in CEACAM16 (DFNA4b) that have been identified thus far (Zheng et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2015; Hofrichter et al., 2015) were also to prevent the normal maturation of the striated-sheet matrix and thereby accelerate degradation of the tectorin-based matrix, this would explain why the affected patients all have a postlingual and progressive form of deafness.