Cell therapy

Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities worldwide. In most cases, hearing loss in humans is believed to be caused by loss or dysfunction of hair cells in the cochlea, and when they are lost, hair cells cannot spontaneously regenerate, which enforce difficulty to cure most cases of severe or profound hearing loss. To date, cochlear implantation is the only way to rehabilitate hearing function in patients with profound hearing loss; however, normal hearing is not restored even with the best outcomes, in particular, in terms of music appreciation. Therefore, an alternative strategy would be much expected for the treatment on profound hearing loss. In this chapter, we will discuss on current understanding of hair cell biology as well as the initial studies aiming at transplanting cells into the inner ear for hair cell replacement. In subsequent part, we will highlight challenges for cell therapy for hair cell regeneration and discuss a couple of topics for cell transplantation into the inner ear.