Research
 Research
in the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Hearing Research
in the Department of Otolaryngology at Children’s Hospital
continues focus on two main areas of regenerative therapy
in the inner ear. The first research area is directed at understanding
hair cell regeneration in the avian cochlea. Hair cell regeneration
was first identified in the chick cochlea in 1987 by Douglas
A. Cotanche, PhD, the director of the lab. We have continued
to explore the mechanisms that regulate regeneration and how
it leads to a structural and functional recovery of the cochlea.
Currently, we are investigating how the activation of apoptosis
in gentamicin and sound damaged hair cells regulates the death
of the hair cells and also how it stimulates proliferation
and transdifferentiation of the supporting cells to replace
those hair cells that were lost.
 The
second research area we are focusing on is the utilization
of stem cells to replace damaged hair cells in the mammalian
organ of Corti. This pioneering work is being led by Mark
Parker, PhD, a senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the
lab. We are transplanting mouse neural stem cells into the
cochleas of sound damage mice and guinea pigs and have shown
that these stem cells migrate throughout the spiral ganglion
and into the organ of Corti where they begin to differentiate
into tissue-specific cell types to replace those damaged by
the sound exposure. We have also been exploring methods for
“priming” the neural stem cells by growing them
in culture along with immortalized cochlear cells. We have
been able to show that co-culturing the stem cells causes
a change in the genes and proteins they express so that they
take on the aspects of cochlear progenitor cells. This will
eventually enable us to target the stem cells so that they
differentiate down specific pathways needed for cells to repair
the damaged cochlear sensory epithelium. Eventually we hope
to be able to use these stem cells as a therapeutic treatment
for sensorineural hearing loss in humans.
Phalloidin & TIAR (24h gent) |
Phalloidin & TIAR (translocated) |
Phalloidin & Bclx (basal bodies) |
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