Reprogramming Inner Ear to Regrow Hair Cells Promising Target for Hearing Loss Treatments

A study in Nature Communications details a method for inducing cell division in the mature inner ear, and reprogramming the inner ear's cells to proliferate and regenerate hair-cell-like cells, reports Medical Xpress . This could provide a pathway to regenerating sensory hair cells and other important inner ear cell types in people with hearing loss. The researchers activated two molecular signals, Myc and Notch, in the adult ear, and learned that the mature inner ear cells can be triggered to divide. Some of the new cells developed characteristics of hair cells, including transduction channels that execute mechanical to electrical conversion, and the ability to form links with auditory neurons. "Our work revealed that reprogramming is achieved by reactivation of early inner ear developmental genes so that the mature inner ear regains neonatal properties, which enables them to re-divide and regenerate," noted Harvard Medical School Professor Zheng-Yi Chen. He added that the most important finding is that the "fully mature mammalian inner ear still retains the capacity to divide and regenerate if it is sufficiently reprogrammed, which removes a fundamental barrier that has prevented the inner ear regeneration necessary for hearing restoration."