Can Stem Cells Cure Deafness?
See also our coverage of
hair cell regeneration, some of which which includes stem cell
applications.
November 2005 - Stem cells could
cure deafness in ten years.
November 2005 - You may remember Stefan Heller as
the researcher who identified stem cells within the inner ear back in
2002. Following his discovery, the idea of treating hearing loss using
stem cells really took off. Dr. Heller has just moved his lab to
Stanford to take advantage of California's progressive views on stem
cell research. Here's the press release, which
includes a good overview of his current work and his plans for future
research.
August 2006 - Stem Cells May Be Key
To Deafness Cure
December
2006 - First blood and bone stem cell research on deafness
February
2007 - Stem Cell Transplants Possible
Hearing Loss Treatment
February 2007 - Tech
Could End Deafness
April
2007 - Cochlear Stem Cells May Lead to
Repaired Hearing
June 2007 - Stem Cell Therapy
Recovers Lost Hearing
October 2007 - Stem Cell Research
Reveals Improved Hearing Possible
September 2008 - Deafness Research
UK excited about gene therapy breakthrough
September 2008 - Umbilical Stem
Cells May Repair Damaged Cochlear Hair Cells
January 2009 - First Embryonic
Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA
March 2009 - New Stem Cell
Therapy May Lead to Treatment for Deafness
April 2009 - Stem cells may help
deaf people hear
August 2009 - Cord Blood Stem Cells
Repair Mouse Inner Ear
November 2009 - Stem Cells Cure
Hearing Loss?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scientists
at Britain's Sheffield University are hoping that stem cell research
could lead to a cure for deafness within ten years! Laboratory tests
have demonstrated that embryonic stem cells have the capability to
regrow in damaged areas; animal testing is planned within two years.
Here's
the full story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August
2006
In a
dusty, cluttered lab at Stanford University, a team of young scientists is
on a quest. Curing deafness is the goal, reports CBS News correspondent
Elizabeth Kaledin, and Stefan Heller says stem cells hold the key. Heller
and his entire team were recruited away from Harvard, and they've made a
breakthrough discovery: They've found that stem cells have the capacity to
regenerate in the inner ear.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December
2006
Deafness
Research UK is funding a new research programme that will be the first
to try and develop a cure for deafness using stem cells taken from
umbilical cord blood or bone marrow. This three-year project will be
based in the Centre for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield
and has been made possible by a £126,000 charitable donation from
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). It
will be the first research to use these promising new lines of stem
cells, which are less controversial than stem cells derived from human
embryos, in the search for a cure for deafness. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February
2007
"We
have a good chance of getting normal hearing back in normal ears,"
said Richard Schmiedt, an otolaryngology professor at the Medical
University of South Carolina. The stem-cell approach involves restoring
the tiny "hair cells" in the ear that convert sound into
electrical impulses. When the cells die, people permanently lose their
hearing. Bringing back the cells through stem-cell transplants, along
with a shock of electricity, could restore hearing, scientists say. At
Stanford University, professor Stefan Heller, who discovered stem cells
in the inner ear, believes they can be used to cure deafness in mice
within five years. Heller and his colleagues are trying to learn from
birds, which do not become deaf, the secret genetic recipe for warding
off hearing loss. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2007
Stem cells injected into the inner ear survived in
half of the injured rats, where they migrated away from the site of
injection toward the injured region within the inner ear. These stem cells
divided in the new environment and expressed several proteins necessary
for hearing, suggesting tissue-specific differentiation. Further,
transplanted cells that migrated to the damaged area of the inner ear
displayed shape similar to that of cochlear fibrocytes. Importantly,
transplanted rats exhibited faster recovery from hearing loss,
particularly in the high frequency range, which is difficult to restore by
natural regeneration. Stem cell migration into the damaged area of the
inner ear improved hearing of high frequency sound (40 kHz) by 23%
compared to natural recovery in untreated animals.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2008
According to an Italian research team publishing
their findings in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (17:6),
hearing loss due to cochlear damage may be repaired by transplantation of
human umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) since they show that a
small number migrated to the damaged cochlea and repaired sensory hair
cells and neurons. For their study, the team used animal models in which
permanent hearing loss had been induced by intense noise, chemical
toxicity or both. Cochlear regeneration was only observed in animal groups
that received HSC transplants. Researchers used sensitive tracing methods
to determine if the transplanted cells were capable of migrating to the
cochlea and evaluated whether the cells could contribute to regenerating
neurons and sensory tissue in the cochlea.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2009
In a watershed moment for one of the most
contentious areas of science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical
treatment derived from embryonic stem cells. Geron Corp., a Menlo Park,
Calif., biotechnology company, is expected to announce Friday that it
received a green light from the agency to mount a study of its stem-cell
treatment for spinal cord injuries in up to 10 patients. The announcement
caps more than a decade of advances in the company's labs and comes on the
cusp of a widely expected shift in U.S. policy toward support of embryonic
stem-cell research after years of official opposition. "This is the dawn
of a new era in medical therapeutics," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's
president and chief executive officer. The hope that stem-cell therapy
will repair and regenerate diseased organs and tissue "goes beyond what
pills and scalpels can ever do." Limits on stem-cell research, which
prevented federal funding and were imposed by Congress and former
President George W. Bush for ethical and religious reasons, have had a
chilling effect on both academic and corporate research involving such
cells. Proponents of stem-cell research say restrictions have delayed
development of promising new treatments, while critics contend that
harvesting stem cells from embryos destroys human life.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2009
Stem cells may help deaf people hear again,
according to early stage research by British scientists. A team at the
University of Sheffield said on Thursday they had discovered how to turn
stem cells into ones that behave like sensory hair cells or auditory
neurons, which could then be surgically inserted into the ear to restore
lost hearing. Lead researcher Marcelo Rivolta said the approach, which is
being tested on animals, held significant potential but was a long way
from being offered to patients.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2009
Results: The authors found that HSC migrated and
engrafted into the cochlea of the deaf mice and that the levels of
engraftment correlated with both the severity of damage and the treatment
dose. Analysis at 60 days post-treatment showed that the mice in the HSC
treatment group had well-repaired cochlea with dramatic hair cell regrowth,
while control mice showed no sign of repair or hair cell regeneration.
Conclusion: The study shows dramatic repair of
cochlear damage in mice after intravenous infusion of cord blood HSC,
suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy using cord blood stem cells in
hearing rehabilitation therapies.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2009
Currently, stem cell transplant is not allowed in
some countries like the United States, some European countries, and South
Korea unless it gets a market approval through clinical trials as new
pharmaceutical drugs undergo. Chloe had to travel outside of the United
States and to Japan or China where (the treatment facility) established
stem cell clinics. More than 2,000 patients with various diseases have
been treated with stem cell therapeutics through (the treatment facility)
since 2008. Chloe's hearing was tested two months after the procedure was
completed on October 16, 2009. The results were spectacular. The left ear
improved to 50% from 0%. The right ear gained almost complete hearing.
Full Story
