Researchers will study the interaction between individual cells and other of the complex elements of the organ of Corti (OC) within the cochlea. Understanding this interaction is essential for future development of successful treatments for hearing loss, especially those involving recovery of damaged, or replacement of dead, sensory hair cells. Hair cells die when damaged by exposure to intense sounds, ototoxic substances, disease, age, and genetic disorders. Hair cells in the OC are not replaced when they die. Why hair cells of non-mammalian vertebrates are replaced, but not those in the mammalian cochlea, is not known.
Another outcome of the research will be on the treatment of certain cancer patients who experience loss of hearing. According to an ototoxicity programme established by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee, USA, Cisplatin – a widely used chemotherapeutic agent – had induced hearing loss in more than 50 per cent of paediatric cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy.
Dr Lukashkin added that the results of this research project will have direct impact on how we treat such patients to protect and restore their hearing.
The project, funded by the Medical Research Council, is due to start this month (September) and will run for five years. Partners in the research include the University of Sussex, University of Southampton, Queen Mary University, University of London and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.