New hope for the hearing impaired
Researchers at MIT have discovered a combination of drugs that can regenerate hair cells in the inner ear.
In Switzerland, around one million people live with hearing loss. This is often due to the loss of hair cells in the inner ear: these detect sound waves and translate them into nerve signals. If the highly sensitive sensory cells are exposed to noise, they are destroyed and cannot grow back. Certain diseases, natural aging and certain medications can also destroy the hair cells and cause hearing loss.
For a long time, the basic principle was that if the hair cells in the auditory system are destroyed, the hearing damage is irreversible. But this could soon change.
Simulate cell development
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a drug combination that can induce the so-called progenitor cells in the ear to develop into hair cells. This could become a new approach to combat hearing loss.
The progenitor cells are cells that provide structural support in the auditory cup. The researchers discovered that these have similar proteins on the surface as stem cells that live in the intestine. Stem cells are body cells that can develop into different tissues or tissue types depending on how they are affected.
This apparently also works with the precursor cells in the ear: If these are simulated with certain molecules, they can develop into hair cells - at least this was shown in ears of laboratory mice.
Tests on humans planned
Researchers are now working to further develop the treatment so that it can be used in humans. The idea is to inject the drugs directly into the inner ear. To do this, they have founded the company Frequency Therapeutics was founded. The goal is to be able to start testing on human patients in 18 months.
This approach could also work for other cell types - such as intestinal cells that can regulate insulin or control microbial populations.
