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Molecular mechanisms that regulate auditory hair-cell differentiation in the mammalian cochlea

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Abstract

Mechanosensory hair cells of the vertebrate cochlea offer an excellent developmental system to study cell-fate specification, and to gain insight into the many human neurological deficits which result in a hearing loss, by affecting primarily the hair cells. Therefore, there is great interest in studying the molecular mechanisms that regulate their specification and differentiation.

Recent studies, based mostly on loss-of-function experiments that target the role of Notch signaling and basic helix-loop-helix genes in inner-ear development have indicated that they can regulate mechanosensory hair cell-fate specification and their initial differentiation.

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  1. Institute des Neurosciences de Montpellier, INSERM U583, Université de Montpellier I, 34090, Montpellier, France

    Azel Zine

  2. Institute of Physiology, University of Lausanne, 1005, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Azel Zine

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Zine, A. Molecular mechanisms that regulate auditory hair-cell differentiation in the mammalian cochlea. Mol Neurobiol 27, 223–237 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1385/MN:27:2:223

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