Regrowth
Research on the regrowth of cochlea cells may lead to medical treatments that restore hearing. Unlike birds and reptiles, humans and other mammals are normally unable to regrow the cells of the inner ear that convert sound into neural signals when those cells are damaged by age or disease. Researchers are making progress toward gene and stem cell therapies that may allow the damaged cells to be regenerated.
Researchers have identified a mammalian gene that normally acts as a molecular switch to block the regrowth of cochlear hair cells in adults. The Rb1 gene encodes the retinoblastoma protein that performs several physiological functions. Not only do hair cells in a culture dish regenerate when the Rb1 gene is deleted, but mice bred to be missing the gene grow more hair cells than control mice that have the gene. The cell cycle inhibitor p27kip1 has also been shown to allow regrowth of cochlear hair cells in mice following genetic deletion or knock down with siRNA targeting p27.
Read more about this topic: Hair Cell