Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have made important progress in their ongoing effort to regenerate the inner ear’s hair cells, which convert sound vibrations to nerve impulses. In an upcoming issue of Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences they report successfully creating a mouse model that allows them to build on earlier findings about the effect of deactivating a protein that controls the growth and division of hair cells. The paper, which is receiving early online publication, also finds that suppressing the retinoblastoma (Rb) protein has different effects in specific parts of the inner ear.
