In mammals, hearing loss is usually due to damage to the sound-sensing hair cells in the inner ear.
Originally, the hair cells were thought to be irreplaceable, but research in mice has shown that the supporting cells that provide structural support to the hair cells can turn into hair cells. If this technology can be applied in older animals, then it might provide a way to stimulate hair cell replacement in adults and treatments for deafness as a result of hair cell loss.
According to Albert Edge of the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, hair cell replacement definitely occurs, but does so as rather low levels. According to Edge: “The finding that newborn hair cells regenerate spontaneously is novel.”
(A) Illustration of organ of Corti structure showing the Pou4f3-positive hair cells (blue), the Lgr5-positive supporting cells (red), and the remaining supporting cells in gray. Both the red and gray supporting cells are Sox2 positive. The green line indicates the xy plane from which the confocal slices in (B)–(G) are taken. (B–G) Confocal slices and cross sections from the midapex of neonatal organ of Corti explant cultures, treated with gentamicin and lineage-traced using the CAG-tdTomato reporter, were stained for DsRed (red). A white line on the whole-mount image shows the location
of the cross section, and yellow and white brackets indicate IHCs and OHCs, respectively. Arrows point to new reporter-positive (or reporter-negative for Pou4f3) hair cells in the pillar cell region. Scale bar, 10 mm. (B) A reporter-positive hair cell from the Lgr5 lineage (such as those counted in H) was visible in the pillar cell region. (C and D) Reporter staining identified the hair cells marked by the white arrows as derived fromLgr5-positive cells; costaining for SOX2 (C) and location in the pillar cell region indicated that they were newly differentiated, and an OHC phenotype was suggested by the expression of PRESTIN (D). (D0 ) PRESTIN channel from (D) shows staining in the membrane and cuticular plate of the new hair cell. (E and F) Staining for the Sox2 lineage reporter identified the hair cells marked by the white arrows as derived from supporting cells; their location (pillar cell region) and costaining for SOX2 (E) identified them as newly differentiated cells, and costaining for PRESTIN (F) indicated an OHC identity. (G) The lack of Pou4f3 lineage reporter staining and the location in the pillar region identified the hair cell marked by the white arrow as a new hair cell, and costaining for PRESTIN indicated an OHC identity. (H) Increased numbers of Lgr5(blue bars) andSox2(red bars) reporter-positive hair cells were observed in the pillar cell region of the organ
of Corti after gentamicin treatment (mean ± SEM per 100 mm; *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001).
Earlier work has shown that inhibition of the Notch signaling pathway increases the formation of new hair cells not from remaining hair cells but from nearby supporting cells that express a cell-surface protein called Lgr5.
When Edge and his team used small molecules to inhibit the Notch signaling pathway, even more support cells differentiated into hair cells, and the Lgr-5-expressing cells were the only supporting cells that differentiated under these conditions.
By combining these new findings about Lgr-5-expressing cells with the previous finding that Notch inhibition can regenerate hair cells, scientists should be able to design new hair cell regeneration strategies to treat hearing loss and deafness.
Beyond the Dish 