Loss of sensory hair cells in the inner ear results in two global health impairments: hearing loss and balance disorders. In humans and other mammals, auditory hair cells damage is permanent and causes irreversible hearing loss. By contrast, hair cells in non-mammalian vertebrates are able to regenerate, prompting studies into the epigenetic mechanisms and signaling pathways that regulate hair ...

Aml1/Runx1 controls developmental aspects of several tissues, is a master regulator of blood stem cells, and plays a role in leukemia. However, it is unclear whether it functions in tissue stem cells other than blood. Here, we have investigated the role of Runx1 in mouse hair follicle stem cells by conditional ablation in epithelial cells. Runx1 disruption affects hair follicle stem cell activa...

Although hair cells regenerate spontaneously in birds and lower vertebrates following injury, there is yet no effective way to stimulate hair cell regeneration in mature mammalian inner ears. Here we report that a large number of hair cells are produced in the sensory epithelium of cultured adult rat utricular maculae, via adenovirus-mediated overexpression of Hath1, a human atonal homolog. The...

The molecular mechanisms underlying the specification of sensory organs in the inner ear and the development of hair and supporting cells within these organs are described. The different organs are all derived from a common pro-sensory region, and may be specified by their proximity to the boundaries between compartments - broad domains within the otocyst defined by the asymmetric expression pa...

Loss of cochlear hair cells leads to permanent hearing loss. Hair cells may degenerate due to hereditary or environmental causes, or a combination of the two. Cochlear supporting cells actively participate in the process of hair cell elimination and scar formation by rapidly expanding and sealing the reticular lamina, the barrier between endolymph and perilymph. This scarring process helps pres...

The sensory hair cells of the inner ear are exquisitely sensitive to ototoxic insults. Loss of hair cells after exposure to ototoxic agents causes hearing loss. Chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin causes hair cell loss. Cisplatin forms DNA mono-adducts as well as intra- and inter-strand DNA crosslinks. DNA cisplatin adducts are repaired through the DNA damage response. The decision betwee...

BACKGROUND We have previously reported that several selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors, including procyanidin B-2, promote hair epithelial cell growth and stimulate anagen induction. OBJECTIVES We discuss the hypothesis that the hair-growing activity of procyanidin B-2 is related to its downregulation or inhibition of translocation of PKC isozymes in hair epithelial cells. METHODS ...

Hair cell regeneration following various mechanical or chemical insults to the inner ear has become the subject of intense scientific research. This article details current concepts relating to this topic, including descriptions of the hair cell precursor population, the ultrastructural properties of the newly regenerated hair cells, and regeneration of hair cells on the vestibular epithelium. ...

Aminoglycoside antibiotics rapidly enter and kill cochlear hair cells via apical mechanoelectrical transduction (MET) channels in vitro. In vivo, it remains unknown whether systemically-administered aminoglycosides cross the blood-labyrinth barrier into endolymph and enter hair cells. Here we show, for the first time, that systemic aminoglycosides are trafficked across the blood-endolymph barri...