Stem Cell-Based Hair Cell Regeneration and Therapy in the Inner Ear

Abstract

Hearing loss has become increasingly prevalent and causes considerable disability, thus gravely burdening the global economy. Irreversible loss of hair cells is a main cause of sensorineural hearing loss, and currently, the only relatively effective clinical treatments are limited to digital hearing equipment like cochlear implants and hearing aids, but these are of limited benefit in patients. It is therefore urgent to understand the mechanisms of damage repair in order to develop new neuroprotective strategies. At present, how to promote the regeneration of functional hair cells is a key scientific question in the field of hearing research. Multiple signaling pathways and transcriptional factors trigger the activation of hair cell progenitors and ensure the maturation of newborn hair cells, and in this article, we first review the principal mechanisms underlying hair cell reproduction. We then further discuss therapeutic strategies involving the co-regulation of multiple signaling pathways in order to induce effective functional hair cell regeneration after degeneration, and we summarize current achievements in hair cell regeneration. Lastly, we discuss potential future approaches, such as small molecule drugs and gene therapy, which might be applied for regenerating functional hair cells in the clinic.

Hesperidin activates Nrf2 to protect cochlear hair cells from cisplatin-induced damage

“…Sensory hair cells are the main sensory organs in the inner ear and play a crucial role in converting sound signals into neural impulses. Moreover, sensory hair cells are nonregenerative cells, which means that the hearing loss caused by cisplatin-induced hair cell damage is often irreversible [ 33 ]. Our in vivo experiments and cochlear explant culture results demonstrated that the application of hesperidin significantly alleviated cisplatin-induced hair cell loss, thereby protecting to hearing function.…”

The miR-182-5p/GPX4 Pathway Contributes to Sevoflurane-Induced Ototoxicity via Ferroptosis

“…Firstly, while sevoflurane treatment altered the activity of HEI-OC1 cells, it had no effect on the quantity and shape of hair cells in vivo or in cochlear explants. This may be because HEI-OC1 cells lack the protective influence of support cells [ 41 , 42 , 43 ] or because the effects of sevoflurane on these cells were not sufficient to cause cell death when balanced against intracellular protective factors [ 44 , 45 ]. Secondly, ferroptosis is a complex process [ 46 ], and our study only focused on GPX4.…”

Atoh1 overexpression promotes Guinea pig bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into neural stem cell

“…However, the development of stem cell therapy for sensorineural hearing loss is relatively lagging. Regenerating hair cells in the inner ear after their loss poses a challenge for otologists, hindering hearing recovery [ 3 ]. Current research on stem cell therapy for sensorineural hearing loss primarily centers on inducing specific differentiation conditions to transform stem cells from different tissues into inner ear precursor cells.…”