The National Institutes on Deafness and other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD) funded Stefan Heller, PhD, (Stanford
University School of Medicine) in his quest to create functional
hair cells from stem cells. Heller and associates began their
work with stem cells from mouse embryos and used multiple
growth-inducing substances such as fibroblast growth factors,
which made the cells cluster and display hair cell-like
characteristics with hair cell bundles at their tips. When the
hair cell bundles were stimulated, they generated
electrochemical currents similar to those produced by young hair
cells. Heller's team plans to initiate experiments to search for
the biochemical basis for the inner ear to regrow hair cells.
Finding the chemical switch to initiate hair cell regeneration
is likely to take some time. “We’re one step further on a
journey,” says Heller. “It will take a while until we reach any
kind of clinical relevance.” For More Information, References,
and Recommendations National Institutes on Deafness a