In this project, Professor Ruben Stepanyan at Case Western Reserve University, USA, aims to understand the mechanisms of noise damage to the inner ear to identify therapeutical targets.
Project start date: October 2023
Project end date: September 2026
About the project
Our sense of hearing can be damaged by loud noise or ageing, but we still don’t understand the full range of underlying causes of hearing loss.
We do know that the hair cells we rely on for hearing require huge amounts of energy to work correctly. Problems with ‘mitochondria’ – the tiny structures that provide cells with energy – can therefore easily cause hearing problems.
Mitochondria are also important in controlling the levels of calcium (which is essential for the cell to function) inside the cell. Excessive levels of calcium are toxic to the cell and to the mitochondria, which become unable to control them.
This study will explore whether loud noise causes calcium levels in hair cells to rise to such an extent that the mitochondria cannot protect them, and this may underlie the damage that noise causes to hearing.
How it works
The researchers will study the role of mitochondria in noise-induced hearing loss. They will use mice which have been genetically engineered to have mitochondria which work differently to normal mitochondria. Depending on the changes in how their mitochondria work, the mice either develop hearing loss or show preservation of hearing with age. The researchers will investigate how the changes in mitochondrial function affect the susceptibility of the inner ear to developing noise-induced hearing loss.
What will this research achieve?
The findings from this project will improve our understanding of how mitochondria and their role in controlling calcium levels within hair cells are linked to hearing loss. This could ultimately lead to the development of drug treatments or gene therapies that target mitochondria to protect, or even restore, hearing.
About the researcher
Dr Ruben Stepanyan is an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Case Western University, USA, and was awarded a RNID Discovery Research Grant.
I hope that my research will lead to better understanding acquired hearing loss, so we can develop strategies to protect hearing.”
