Grant Award Details
Identification of regimens of Wnt activators that stimulate hair cell regeneration.
Progress Reports
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Grant Application Details
- Modulation of the Wnt pathway to restore inner ear function
Research Objective
We aim to identify drug regimens that stimulate endogenous progenitors in the inner to regenerate to restore hearing or balance functions.
Impact
Treatment for irreversible hearing loss and balance disorders is limited, a drug regimen to reverse is highly impactful.
Major Proposed Activities
- Production of R-spondin proteins
- Drug testing in neonatal cochlear cultures
- Drug testing in neonatal and mature utricle cultures
- Drug testing in human utricle cultures
- Drug testing in the cochlea in vivo
- Drug testing in the utricle in vivo
Hearing loss (HL) is a permanent sensory disorder affecting about 48 and 7.7 million people in the US and California. Another 90 and 14.5 million US and California residents suffer from dizziness and vertigo. Currently, treatment options including hearing aids aim at improving the symptoms of HL and dizziness, yet fail to reverse the main underlying pathology, loss of inner ear sensory hair cells (HC). The current research aims to characterize a drug regimen to reverse these sensory deficits.
Publications
- Cell Rep (2019) Atoh1 Directs Regeneration and Functional Recovery of the Mature Mouse Vestibular System. (PubMed: 31291569)