title: Molecular mechanisms and potentials for differentiating inner ear stem cells into sensory hair cells.
abstract: In mammals, hair cells may be damaged or lost due to genetic mutation, infectious disease, chemical ototoxicity, noise and other factors, causing permanent sensorineural deafness. Regeneration of hair cells is a basic pre-requisite for recovery of hearing in deaf animals. The inner ear stem cells in the organ of Corti and vestibular utricle are the most ideal precursors for regeneration of inner ear hair cells. This review highlights some recent findings concerning the proliferation and differentiation of inner ear stem cells. The differentiation of inner ear stem cells into hair cells involves a series of signaling pathways and regulatory factors. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the related studies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell and Development, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Quanwen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell and Development, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China; Department of Cell Biology and Otolaryngology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell and Development, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China. Electronic address: wjfu@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinfu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D054777:Hair Cells, Ampulla / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch; C500943:Atoh1 protein, mouse
keywords: Atoh1; Hair cell; Inner ear; Notch signaling pathway; Stem cell