Sensory hair cells, critical for hearing, are vulnerable to multiple damaging agents, such as noise and drugs. In humans and other mammals, which lack regenerative abilities, hair cell loss leads to permanent hearing impairment. In contrast, non-mammalian vertebrates exhibit robust regeneration. We set out to characterize amino acid-level differences between regenerating and non-regenerating species, thereby identifying similar protein sequences in regenerators that are not present or altered in mammals and may contribute to differential regenerative capacity.
Principle Investigator: Phillip Uribe
Developer: Robby Boney
Developer: Rahul Ram
Senior Advisor: Dr. Allison Coffin