Figure 3.

A mechano-genetics approach for treating SNHL. Degeneration in the cochlea caused by many deafness gene at the adult stage will be in stages III and IV (Figure 2), which is treatable by CIs that directly excite SGNs by extracellular electrical field potential. This figure gives an illustration of possible outcome in degenerated organ of Corti after receiving gene therapy to express both neurotrophic (e.g., BDNF) and mechano-sensitive channels (MSCs). Peripheral fibers of survived SGNs are supposed to be induced to grow into the area of remaining basilar membrane. The MSCs are virally-expressed in the cell membrane of SGNs. These MSCs are normally attached to microtubes via ankyrin repeats (boxed insert), and the MSCs are opened directly by mechanical stimuli to the cell membrane (Zhang et al., 2015). It is hypothesized, as an alternative gene therapy method, that virally-expressed MSCs may render SGNs directly respond to vibration of the basilar membrane by firing action potentials. The advantage of this approach is that it requires similar cellular survival condition as that in the cochlea of CI patients.