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This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 2007-0393v1 25/11/2685    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Coleman, B. Articles by Shepherd, R. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Coleman, B. Articles by Shepherd, R. K.

EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

Concise Review: The Potential of Stem Cells for Auditory Neuron Generation and Replacement

^aThe Department of Otolaryngology, University of Melbourne, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;
^bThe Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;
^cThe Bionic Ear Institute, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia;
^dDepartment of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia;
^eMurdoch Childrens Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Key Words. Stem cells • Deafness • Differentiation • Auditory neuron • Cell transplantation • Cochlear implant

Correspondence: Bryony Coleman, Ph.D., Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Level 2, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne 3002, Victoria, Australia. Telephone: +61 3 9929 8384; Fax: +61 3 9663 1958; e-mail: bcoleman{at}bionicear.org

Received on May 22, 2007; accepted for publication on July 19, 2007.

First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS  July 26, 2007.


Sensory hair cells in the mammalian cochlea are sensitive to many insults including loud noise, ototoxic drugs, and ageing. Damage to these hair cells results in deafness and sets in place a number of irreversible changes that eventually result in the progressive degeneration of auditory neurons, the target cells of the cochlear implant. Techniques designed to preserve the density and integrity of auditory neurons in the deafened cochlea are envisaged to provide improved outcomes for cochlear implant recipients. This review examines the potential of embryonic stem cells to generate new neurons for the deafened mammalian cochlea, including the directed differentiation of stem cells toward a sensory neural lineage and the engraftment of exogenous stem cells into the deafened auditory system. Although still in its infancy the aim of this therapy is to restore a critical number of auditory neurons, thereby improving the benefits derived from a cochlear implant.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.