Hearing Health Blog
We have artificially expressed three key hair cell fate promoting proteins in nonsensory cells of adult mice, and found that a significant number of these cells will convert into cells resembling hair cells. This offers a potential strategy for hair cell regeneration.
A better understanding of how our brains process patterns with aging and hearing loss, and when neural responses are exaggerated versus diminished, can aid in developing treatments and devices to improve age- and hearing loss-related hearing difficulties.
As of this year, our general hearing health grants have been renamed Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Awards in recognition of Keithley’s impact on the field and long service to HHF, and the awards’ focus on supporting the next generation.
These findings suggest that by inhibiting PARP1, a protein, it may be possible to maintain the health and survival of hair cells following blast injuries. The restoration of energy production from both mitochondria and glycolysis contributes to this protective effect.
The hair cells deploy a protein called XIRP2, which can sense damage to the cores that are made of a substance called actin. The researchers found that XIRP2 first senses damage, then migrates to the damage site and repairs the cores by filling in new actin.
More funding and more time leads to more ambitious experimental plans, additional data collected, and a stronger footing for subsequent research and research funding.
The annual ARO MidWinter Meeting is the preeminent conference for scientists and clinicians conducting research in the hearing and balance fields. The 46th meeting just concluded after five days in Orlando, Florida—the first in-person conference since late January 2020.
We have now identified the first events that lead to proliferative hair cell regeneration in birds, which provides new leads that can be translated to mice and ultimately to humans.
