Abstract
Stem cells have been touted as a potential source of replacement cells for the treatment of severe-to-profoundly deaf individuals, including possible combined therapy with a cochlear implant. The success of such a therapy is dependent on a number of factors, but of critical importance is the functional incorporation of transplanted cells into the peripheral and central auditory systems. In a major breakthrough, Chen and colleagues recently reported the restoration of hearing thresholds by up to 46% following the transplantation of human pluripotent stem cells in a rodent auditory neuropathy model. Improved function was matched with new synapse formation in the peripheral and central aspects of the auditory system. The findings have promising clinical implications for patients with auditory neuropathy. Still to be elucidated are the long-term survival and function of transplanted cells, the precise mechanism by which hearing is restored, and whether further improvement is possible when combined with electrical stimulation from a cochlear implant.
Highlights
Stem cells have been touted as a potential source of replacement cells for the treatment of severeto-profoundly deaf individuals, including possible combined therapy with a cochlear implant
Studies have elucidated the important role of fibroblast growth factors in inner ear development [4] and the specification of the otic placode [5,6], and these findings were applied by Chen and colleagues to sequentially produce otic progenitors
This would include the expression of a specific subset of ion channels [1] and the capability to follow normal acoustic stimulation, which is in the order of 200 spikes per second for auditory neuron (AN) [9]
Summary
Stem cells have been touted as a potential source of replacement cells for the treatment of severeto-profoundly deaf individuals, including possible combined therapy with a cochlear implant. More than 40 in vivo studies have been conducted to investigate the viability of various stem cell types for the replacement of auditory neurons (ANs) in the deaf cochlea (recently reviewed in [1]).
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