The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the first human trial of Rincell-1, a stem cell therapy for sensorineural hearing loss. Developed by University of Sheffield researchers, Rincell-1 aims to repair damaged inner ear nerves. Sensorineural hearing loss affects over a billion people and current treatments like cochlear implants have limitations. Regenerating damaged hair cells in the cochlea is crucial as they cannot divide. Rincell-1 employs embryonic stem cells to create auditory neurons, potentially restoring the connection between hair cells and the brain.
The treatment, dubbed Rincell-1, is intended to regrow damaged nerves in the cochlea and allow them to start sending signals to the brain again.
Key to the cochlea's function are the hair cells that line its surface, which are responsible for detecting sound.
If these are severely damaged, it's game over: the hair cells are incapable of dividing to form new ones, meaning that they don't regenerate.
Attempts to regrow these receptors have long been the white whale of modern medical science, and the researchers hope they've found it in Rincell-1.
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