Stereocilia News and Research

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Stereocilia are apical modifications of the cell, which are distinct from microvilli and cilia.

UVA researchers discover how 'hair cells' repair themselves

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the cells that let us hear can repair themselves after being damaged.

10 Jul 2023

Study documents and visualizes hearing loss-associated genes in the inner ear

Researchers from Uppsala University have been able to document and visualise hearing loss-associated genes in the human inner ear, in a unique collaboration study between otosurgeons and geneticists.

2 Dec 2021

Scientists identify new genes associated with familial Meniere's disease

A team of scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) and GENYO (Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research—led by Pablo Roman-Naranjo and Jose Antonio López-Escámez, researcher in charge of the Biohealth Research Institute in Granada (ibs.GRANADA)—has identified new genes associated with familial Meniere's disease.

1 Dec 2021

New findings challenge the decades-old working mechanism of the hearing organ

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have made several discoveries on the functioning mechanisms of the inner hair cells of the ear, which convert sounds into nerve signals that are processed in the brain.

10 May 2021

UMSOM researchers determine role of protein in development of hearing hair cells

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have conducted a study that has determined the role that a critical protein plays in the development of hair cells.

12 Sep 2020

Study reveals key insight into the development of hair bundles

New research reveals a key insight into the development of hair bundles, the intricately complex assemblies in the inner ear responsible for hearing.

2 Jan 2020

Hearing partially restored in deaf lab mice using novel therapy

A small molecule of a drug has been successfully used to treat an inherited form of hearing loss in laboratory mice.

28 Jun 2018

IUPUI cell biologist receives $1.9 million grant to tackle age-related hearing loss

Cell biologist Benjamin J. Perrin of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is advancing knowledge of age-related hearing loss with the goal of informing possible therapeutic cell-regeneration approaches to the often-debilitating problem.

14 Sep 2017

Study sheds light on how key protein allows hearing to work

Although the basic outlines of human hearing have been known for years – sensory cells in the inner ear turn sound waves into the electrical signals that the brain understands as sound – the molecular details have remained elusive.

29 Jun 2017

Inner ear gene therapy holds promise for treating patients with hearing loss and dizziness

In a first-of-its-kind study published in the March 1, 2017 edition of Molecular Therapy, researchers from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine showed that gene therapy was able to restore balance and hearing in genetically modified mice that mimic Usher Syndrome, a genetic condition in humans characterized by partial or total hearing loss, dizziness, and vision loss that worsens over time.

23 Mar 2017

TSRI study shows how mutations in Tmie gene can cause deafness from birth

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered how one gene is essential to hearing, uncovering a cause of deafness and suggesting new avenues for therapies.

21 Nov 2014

Researchers explore hair cells of inner ear to reverse hearing loss

The ability to discern pitch - to hear the difference between "cat," "bat" and "hat," for example - hinges on remarkable gradations in specialized cells within the inner ear.

21 May 2014

IRCM researchers identify new proteins crucial for hearing

A team of researchers led by Dr. Michel Cayouette at the IRCM made an important discovery, published online yesterday by the scientific journal Developmental Cell, that could better explain some inherited forms of hearing loss in humans. The Montr-al scientists identified a group of proteins crucial for shaping the cellular organ responsible for detecting sounds.

16 Oct 2013

Stereocilia not only move sideways but also change in length: Study

The sensory cells of the inner ear have tiny hairs called stereocilia that play a critical part in hearing. It has long been known that these stereocilia move sideways back and forth in a wave-like motion when stimulated by a sound wave. After having designed a microscope to observe these movements, a research team at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has discovered that the hairs not only move sideways but also change in length.

4 Oct 2012

CIB2 gene responsible for progression and severity of Usher syndrome

Usher syndrome is a hereditary disease in which affected individuals lose both hearing and vision. The impact of Usher syndrome can be devastating. In the United States, approximately six in every 100,000 babies born have Usher syndrome.

2 Oct 2012

CIB2 genetic mutation responsible for deafness associated with Usher syndrome type 1

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness and hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1.

1 Oct 2012

Unknown 'root' extension in hair cells of the inner ear

The hair cells of the inner ear have a previously unknown "root" extension that may allow them to communicate with nerve cells and the brain to regulate sensitivity to sound vibrations and head position, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered. Their finding is reported online in advance of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

10 Mar 2012

Study reveals specific functional deficit in inner ear mechanotransduction channels

National Institutes of Health-funded researchers have identified two proteins that may be the key components of the long-sought after mechanotransduction channel in the inner ear-the place where the mechanical stimulation of sound waves is transformed into electrical signals that the brain recognizes as sound.

22 Nov 2011

Gene-therapy trial to restore hearing in deaf mice

Researchers have found long-sought genes in the sensory hair cells of the inner ear that, when mutated, prevent sound waves from being converted to electric signals - a fundamental first step in hearing. The team, co-led by Jeffrey Holt, PhD, in the department of otolaryngology at Children-s Hospital Boston, and Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD, of the NIH-s National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), then restored these electrical signals in the sensory cells of deaf mice by introducing normal genes.

22 Nov 2011

New role for harmonin protein in Usher syndrome

University of Iowa scientists have discovered a new role for a protein that is mutated in Usher syndrome, one of the most common forms of deaf-blindness in humans. The findings, which were published Aug. 8 in Nature Neuroscience, may help explain why this mutation causes the most severe form of the condition.

16 Aug 2011