Auditory Stem Cell Transplantation and Cochlear Implants in Animal Models of Deafness

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Hearing loss is a main public health issue, with more than 250 million people affected worldwide. The vast majority of these cases are produced by the damage of two critical cells of the hearing pathway, the sensory hair cells and the auditory neurons located in the cochlea. Hair cells can ?sense? sound by detecting small vibrations through the movement of the tiny ?hairs? located at their top. This movement is translated into electrical signals that are sent to the auditory neurons, which in turn take the information to the brain. While birds have the ability to regenerate and replace hair cells, mammals in general and humans in particular have lost this ability. Sensory hair cells and neurons are only produced in the womb during development, making their loss permanent and deafness irreversible. At the moment, no medical treatment is available for the condition. However, in severe cases, the function of the lost hair cells can be replaced by a prosthetic device, the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant, however, can only work provided the auditory neurons are preserved. In many patients this is not the case and cochlear implantation is not possible. Even worst, since it is difficult to judge the quality of the neurons beforehand, some patients are implanted only to have their hopes shattered by a poor performance and little or no recovery of hearing. In this project, we want to explore if, by using stem cells, we could replace the damaged neurons and enhance the efficacy and applicability of cochlear implants in the treatment of deafness. Our laboratory has already succesfully isolated populations of human stem cells that have the capacity to produce sensory neurons in a test tube. Now, we want to use them toghether with cochlear implants, to treat animals that have a deafness similar to that which will lead to a cochlear implant failure in humans. We want to see if the transplanted cells will establish connections with the electrical electrodes and eventually, produce a functional recovery. If succesful, these findings could pave the way to offer a solution to thousands of patients that cannot be helped today with conventional cochlear implants.