title: New strategies for the restoration of hearing loss: challenges and opportunities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For most types of hearing impairments, a definitive therapy would rest on the ability to restore hair cells and the spiral ganglion neurons. The only established technique to treat deafness is based on the functional replacement of hair cells with a cochlear implant, but this still has important limitations.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic revision of the relevant literature is presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  New curative strategies, ranging from stem cells to gene and molecular therapy, are under development.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although still experimental, they have delivered some initial promissory results that allow us to look at them with cautious optimism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The isolation of human auditory cells, the generation of protocols to control their differentiation into sensory lineages, their promising application in vivo and the identification of key genes to target molecularly offer an exciting landscape.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this chapter, I discuss the latest advances in the field and how they are being translated into a clinical application.
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield, Firth Court Bldg, Western Bank, Sheffield, UK. m.n.rivolta@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: Marcelo N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Rivolta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D013136:Spiral Ganglion / Q000502:physiology; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*