Towards the Regrowth of Lost Sensory Hair Cells in the Inner Ear

Age-related deafness arises from some combination of (a) the loss of sensory hair cells in the inner ear, and (b) the loss of connections between those cells and the brain. There is some disagreement in the literature as to which of these mechanisms is the most relevant, but most recent efforts in the field are focused on trying to coerce the body into producing new hair cells. If that production of new hair cells in the inner ear follows the normal developmental processes, then it might solve both of the above mentioned issues, providing both cells and connections to the brain. Today's research materials illustrate the state of this field of research. The scientists involved have explored the developmental programs active in the inner ear tissue of the embryo in search of regulatory genes that might be used to reactivate the normally dormant production of new hair cells in an adult. Interestingly, they also find that loss of hair cells in an adult can trigger these developmental programs to a modest degree, producing some amount of new hair cell creation - though evidently not enough. Yet if a process operates at all in adult tissues, one might think that it will be an easier target for upregulation via the usual therapeutic strategies than would otherwise be the case. Mouse studies tune into hearing regeneration A deafened adult cannot recover the ability to hear, because the sensory hearing cells of the inner ear don't regenerate after damage. In the...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs