Hair cells help restore hearing

Researchers at Oregon's University of Science and Health have recently succeeded in producing functional hearing hair cells in the cochlea of ​​the inner ear of mice. This breakthrough opens up a new therapy in the future that can treat hearing loss. The results of the study are published in Nature.

Assistant Professor John Brigande of the Department of Otolaryngology at the Oregon Hearing Center, OHSU School of Medicine said: 'One method to restore hearing function is to replace defective cells with healthy cells. . Our study shows that it is possible to produce functional hearing hair cells in mammalian cochlea. '

Researchers are particularly interested in tiny hair cells that are part of a cochlea called Corti . It has long been established that when these hair cells die, hearing loss occurs . Throughout the life of a human being, a certain number of hair cells functioned incorrectly or died spontaneously, causing people to gradually lose their ability to hear often found in the elderly. People who are constantly exposed to loud sounds for a long time or suffer from certain diseases also lose more sensory hair cells than normal people; therefore they are more likely to lose hearing.

Researchers have recently succeeded in producing functional hearing hair cells in the cochlea in the inner ear of mice.This breakthrough opens up a new therapy in the future that can treat hearing loss.(Photo: iStockphoto)

Brigande and his colleagues were able to create hair cells by turning a key gene called Atoh1 into the growing inner ear of mice. Genes are inserted with green fluorescent protein (GFP) which is a molecule that helps a jellyfish glow. GFP is often used in research as a marker that scientists use to determine the exact location, in this case the expression of Atoh1. It is noteworthy that gene transfer technique has an effect on the expression of Atoh1 gene in the body of Corti where sensory hair cells form.

With this method, the researchers were able to find out how the genetic material inserted could stimulate hair growth, thus forming more hair cells in the ear. How long has the mouse been born? Dr. Anthony Ricci - assistant professor of ear and throat at Stanford University School of Medicine - explained that the hair cells created have electrophysiological properties that coincide with endogenous hair cells, which means that hair cells will function properly. Based on the above data, the scientists concluded that the expression of the Atoh1 gene has formed hearing-carrying cells in the inner ear of newborn mammals.

Brigande said: 'We still need to determine whether gene transfer techniques performed on dead mice can make healthy cells recover hearing. However, we have made an important step in finding the potential pathway to interventions to treat hearing loss'.