What is it about?
We have used a genetic tool to activate a previously-inactive gene that led to progressive hearing loss and found that we can restore hearing to the mouse. There is a critical time window for restoring hearing, and the earlier the treatment, the better the eventual hearing ability.
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Why is it important?
This finding is important because it suggests that some forms of hearing loss may be reversible. In this case, the hearing loss was due to a reduced ability of the cochlea to maintain its normal homeostasis. Many other reports of therapies tested in mice involve avoiding the development of hearing loss in the first place, but in the human population the major need is from people who already have some degree of hearing impairment.
Perspectives
This finding gives us added impetus to find effective treatments for this form of cochlear pathology, because it is a proof-of-concept that it could be reversible. I hope it gives encouragement to funders and to industry to invest in research into treatments for this very common human disorder that brings so much unhappiness to people as they get older.
Karen Steel
King's College London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reversal of an existing hearing loss by gene activation in
Spns2
mutant mice, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307355120.
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