Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Harvard University have successfully restored the hearing of mice partially deafened by noise, using a key protein called NT3.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School's Kresge Hearing Research Institute and Harvard University have successfully restored the hearing of mice partially deafened by noise, according to a study published in the online journal eLife.
In the study, scientists used a special genetic technique that enabled the deafened mice to produce additional NT3 in cells of the inner ear after they were exposed to noise loud enough to reduce hearing. The protein NT3 is crucial to the body's ability to form and maintain connections between hair cells and nerve cells, structures that are key to hearing. This connection, called a ribbon synapse, allows for rapid communication of signals that travel back and forth across tiny gaps between the two types of cells. Mice who produced extra NT3 regained their ability to hear much better than the control mice.
While the research is promising, additional study needs to be conducted in human ears. The challenge will be finding drugs that work like NT3.
"It has become apparent that hearing loss due to damaged ribbon synapses is a very common and challenging problem, whether it's due to noise or normal aging," says Gabriel Corfas, Ph.D., who led the team and directs the U-M institute. "We began this work 15 years ago to answer very basic questions about the inner ear, and now we have been able to restore hearing after partial deafening with noise, a common problem for people. It's very exciting."