A number of human genetic disorders have been mapped to the region where STK9 has been localized including Nance-Horan (NH) syndrome, oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1), and a novel locus for nonsyndromic sensorineural deafness (DFN6).
Next-generation sequencing identifies mutations of SMPX, which encodes the small muscle protein, X-linked, as a cause of progressive hearing impairment.