Replacing damaged ‘hair’ cells may help treat hearing loss
Inside a bony structure that spirals like a snail shell in a human’s inner ear, roughly 15,000 “hair” cells receive, translate, and then ship sound signals to the brain. Damage to these cells from excessive noise, chronic infections, antibiotics, certain drugs, or the simple passing of time can lead to irreparable hearing loss. Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and colleagues from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an approach to replace damaged sound-sensing hair cells, which eventually may lead to therapies for people who live with disabling hearing loss. In a recent Cell Reports study, the researchers identified a small molecule cocktail that increased the population of cells responsible for generating hair cells in the inner ear. Unlike hair on the human head, the hair cells lining that bony structure, called the cochlea, do not regenerate. HSCI principal faculty...