title: Cochlear gene therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review highlights recent advances in cochlear gene therapy over the past several years. Cochlear gene therapy has undergone tremendous advances over the past decade. Beginning with some groundbreaking work in 2005 documenting hair cell regeneration using virally mediated delivery of the mouse atonal 1 gene, gene therapy is now being explored as a possible treatment for a variety of causes of hearing loss.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recent advances in cochlear gene therapy include improved methods of gene delivery with a better delineation of viral vectors that are suitable for this purpose, additional improvements in hair cell regeneration, and directed research toward autoimmune hearing loss, ototoxicity, spiral ganglion survival, and genetic forms of hearing loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If successful, cochlear gene therapy will dramatically alter our ability to treat a variety of forms of acquired and genetic hearing loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94115, USA. llustig@ohns.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Lawrence R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lustig
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Akil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003051:Cochlea / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015834:Cochlear Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology