Stem Cell Regeneration of Human Spiral Ganglion Neurons Toward Hearing Restoration
Abstract
Hearing loss is a major clinical complaint of military personnel who are exposed to loud noise known to damage cochlear hair cells and auditory neurons. Our long-term goal is to mitigate this damage through next generation cochlear implants (CIs) that incorporate transplanted human stem cells guided to become new, functional auditory neurons. By combining clinically proven CI methodologies with developing stem-cell based neural replacement strategies, we seek to achieve large gains in CI performance by establishing a new intracochlear neural network to improve CI-neuron connectivity, using the CI to stimulate this network. Our work advances translational efforts by (1) improving intracochlear transplantation of stem-cell derived auditory neurons through innovative three-dimensional multicellular aggregates and (2) promoting survival, neural plasticity, and synaptogenesis through supportive neurotrophins and extracellular matrices. We expect that transplanted stem-cell-derived neurons will establish new synaptic connections with surviving auditory neurons. We will focus on in vitro experiment using human pluripotent stem cell lines in the first year. We will then move on to in vivo animal experiments in the second and third year to evaluate our research aims.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1086755
Entities
People
- Akihiro J Matsuoka
Organizations
- Northwestern University