Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Vol 1, No 1 (2009)

Differentiation of cochlear neural progenitors with SV40 in vitro

Ling Feng, Yuki Hamajima, Masahiro Komori, John Anderson, Dong Wang, Terry C. Burns, Catherine M. Verfaillie, Walter C. Low, Jizhen Lin

Abstract

Sphere-forming cochlear stem cells/progenitors have recently been isolated from the postnatal mouse organ of Corti. However, self-renewal of the cochlear progenitors remains to be elucidated. Here we demonstrate the renewable cochlear neural progenitors from the postnatal Immortomouse organ of Corti containing a temperature-sensitive SV40 that have the potential to differentiate into hair cell-, neuron-, and supporting cell-like phenotypes under the guidance of sonic hedgehog, epidermal growth factor, retinoic acid, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, herein termed SERB. This work provides a rationale for using cochlear neural progenitors in possible cell replacement of lost hair cells and neurons in degenerative hearing disorders.

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