Scientists find a ‘switch’ gene to regenerate hearing cells

Scientists from Northwestern University of USA published today in the scientific journal Nature a study in which they identify the gene responsible for the hair cells, which allow human beings to be able to perceive the sound.

For the researchers, with this discovery, one of the “great obstacles” that prevented the inner ear cells responsible for hearing from regenerating has been overcome.

In the ear there are two types of cells; the external hairswhich expand and contract in response to pressure waves sound and allow to amplify the signal, and the internal hairswhich transmit this vibration to the neurons so that the brain notices the sounds of the environment.

the death of the internal hairs it is often related to deafness and hearing problems. Until now, it had been possible to produce hair cells, but they had not found the specific mechanism to differentiate them between its two functions.

“Our discovery provides us with the first clear cellular switch to be able to create one or another type (of cells)”says Jaime Garcia-Anoveros, lead author of the work, in a statement from his university.

The study identified the TBX2 gene as the key that was missing in this process. The cell becomes an outer hair cell when the gene is blocked, or an inner hair cell when the gene is expressed. “Now we know how to specifically create inner or outer cells and identify why the former are more likely to die and cause deafness”affirms Garcia-Anoveros.

Although the researcher emphasizes that his work is still in an “experimental phase”, he details that his objectives are towards the possibility of reprogramming other cells of the ear so they can replace hair cells that have died due to aging, medical treatments or other causes.

Source: Elcomercio

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