| Grant number: | 09/09473-3 |
| Support type: | Regular Research Grants |
| Duration: | January 01, 2010 - December 31, 2011 |
| Field of knowledge: | Health Sciences - Medicine |
| Principal Investigator: | Ricardo Ferreira Bento |
| Grantee: | Ricardo Ferreira Bento |
| Home Institution: | Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
Abstract
Most forms of congenital and acquired hearing loss arise from damage to cochlear hair cells or their associated neurons. In mammals, the replacement of lost hair cells does not occur spontaneously since these cells are terminally-differentiated. Clinically, the loss of hair cells can be treated by electric stimulation of auditive nerve by cochlear implants. However, other therapeutic approaches for hearing loss restoration have been investigated and include cellular replacement by stem cell therapy and induction of intrinsic tissue regeneration by gene therapy. This study aims to create and develop a research line on hearing loss regeneration through the following main goals: (i) to standardize procedures to obtain and to transplant progenitor cells into the organ of Corti (ii) to standardize procedures of genetic and phenotypic interference on organ of Corti progenitor cells and support cells. The achievement of these goals will create the experimental conditions for the further development of gene and cell therapy strategies on hearing loss. (AU)