Cellular studies of auditory hair cell regeneration in birds
Abstract
A decade ago it was discovered that mature birds are able to regenerate hair cells, the receptors for auditory perception. This surprising finding generated hope in the field of auditory neuroscience that new hair cells someday may be coaxed to form in another class of warm-blooded vertebrates, mammals. We have made considerable progress toward understanding some cellular and molecular events that lead to hair cell regeneration in birds. This review discusses our current understanding of avian hair cell regeneration, with some comparisons to other vertebrate classes and other regenerative systems.
Footnotes
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↵ * To whom reprint requests should be addressed at: Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, CHDD CD 176, Box 357923, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7923. E-mail: rubel{at}u.washington.edu.
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This paper was distributed at and is part of the papers presented at the National Academy of Sciences colloquium “Auditory Neuroscience: Development, Transduction, and Integration,” held May 19–21, 2000, at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, CA.
- Abbreviations:
- FGF,
- fibroblast growth factor;
- IGF,
- insulin-like growth factor;
- FGFR,
- FGF receptor;
- RA,
- retinoic acid
- Copyright © 2000, The National Academy of Sciences
