Inner ear hair cell regeneration: A look from the past to the future

Since Moffat and Ramsden for the first time discovered the possibility of the auditory system in humans in 1977, over the last two decades, great progress has been made in physiopathological research on neurosensory hearing loss. Jørgensen and Mathiesen were the first authors to note the capacity for regeneration of the normal vestibular epithelium in adult Australian parrots. Later, Roberson et al studied the normal vestibular epithelium of 12-day-old white Leghorn chicks using tritiated thymidine and bromodeoxyuridine. Francisco Santaolalla and colleagues from Basurto University Hospital, Spain review literatures on theory and clinical application of inner ear sensory hair cell regeneration.

This review, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 24, 2013), the use of stem cells, gene therapy and neurotrophic factors has important role in regeneration of inner ear hair cells. Cochlear gene therapy has been successfully used in the treatment of neurosensory hearing loss and other inner ear disorders. Greatest progress will be achieved, in the near future, in the regeneration of hair cells after use of atonal homolog 1 gene delivered by viral vectors and this may become the best clinical treatment method of certain types of hearing loss.

More information:
Santaolalla F, Salvador C, Martínez A, Sánchez JM, Sánchez del Rey A. Inner ear hair cell regeneration: a look from the past to the future. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(24):2284-2289.

Provided by Neural Regeneration Research