No.56 Seminar ： Development and regeneration of auditory hair cells
- Tomoko Tateya (The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research)
- 2013/02/19 4:00pm
- The Hakubi Center for advanced research (iCeMS West Wing 2F, Seminar Room)
- Japanese
Summary
Auditory hair cells are the sensory cells that transduce sound waves into electric signals, and are located in the cochlea, the organ responsible for hearing, in the inner ear. The loss of the hair cells is the leading cause of hearing impairment. The mammalian cochlea cannot regenerate its complement of mature hair cells and therefore hearing impairment caused by hair cell loss is difficult to cure. The developmental process of cochlea, including hair cells, is complex and has not been sufficiently elucidated yet. A better understanding of it would provide clues that could lead to new strategies for hair cell regeneration. The mammalian cochlea is highly developed and hair cells are regularly arranged in rows. Research on cochlear development has shown that the cochlea is highly sensitive to disorders caused by abnormal cellular differentiation and tissue organization. This seminar will present our research on mammalian cochlear development and to discuss the approach to hair cell regeneration.