Tatjana Piotrowski, Ph.D.

The Research

University of Utah Medical School

Molecular analysis of hair cell regeneration in the zebrafish lateral line

We are aiming to elucidate the genetic pathways underlying hair cell regeneration in zebrafish with the long-term goal of activating these pathways in mammals. Our lab is taking a twofold approach to identify genes involved in hair cell regeneration. We are performing gene expression analyses from mantle cells of control larvae and from larvae in which mantle cells are proliferating to regenerate killed hair cells (as proposed in this application). As a second approach we are performing a mutagenesis screen for zebrafish mutants which are not able to regenerate hair cells, and thus carry mutations in regeneration-specific genes. A prominent cause of deafness is loss of hair cells due to age, noise or antibiotic treatments. In contrast to mammalian hair cells, fish, bird and amphibian hair cells turn over frequently and regenerate following hair cell death. Little is known why lower vertebrates are able to regenerate hair cells but humans do not. This is partly due to the relative inaccessibility of inner ear hair cells to direct observation and manipulation. Our aim is to take advantage of the lateral line of zebrafish to define and characterize the molecular and cellular interactions occurring during hair cell regeneration. If successful, our results will set the stage for testing whether hair cell regeneration can be activated in humans.