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The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating enzyme NOX3 has recently been implicated in the pathophysiology of several acquired forms of sensorineural hearing loss, including cisplatin-, noise- and age-related hearing loss. NOX3 is highly and specifically expressed in the inner ear and therefore represents an attractive target for specific intervention aiming at otoprotection. Despite the strong rationale to inhibit NOX3, there is currently no specific pharmacological inhibitor available. Molecular therapy may represent a powerful alternative. In this study, we developed and tested a collection of small interfering (si) RNA constructs to establish a proof of concept of NOX3 inhibition through local delivery in the mouse inner ear. The inhibitory potential of 10 different siRNA constructs was first assessed in three different cells lines expressing the NOX3 complex. Efficacy of the most promising siRNA construct to knock-down NOX3 was then further assessed in vivo, comparing middle ear delivery and direct intracochlear delivery through the posterior semi-circular canal. While hearing was completely preserved through the intervention, a significant downregulation of NOX3 expression in the mouse inner ear and particularly in the spiral ganglion area at clinically relevant levels (>60%) was observed 48 h after treatment. In contrast to successful intracochlear delivery, middle ear administration of siRNA failed to significantly inhibit Nox3 mRNA expression. In conclusion, intracochlear delivery of NOX3-siRNAs induces a robust temporal NOX3 downregulation, which could be of relevance to prevent predictable acute insults such as cisplatin chemotherapy-mediated ototoxicity and other forms of acquired hearing loss, including post-prevention of noise-induced hearing loss immediately after trauma. Successful translation of our concept into an eventual clinical use in humans will depend on the development of atraumatic and efficient delivery routes into the cochlea without a risk to induce hearing loss through the intervention.

The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating NADPH oxidase NOX3 isoform is highly and specifically expressed in the inner ear. NOX3 is needed for normal vestibular development but NOX-derived ROS have also been implicated in the pathophysiology of sensorineural hearing loss. The role of NOX-derived ROS in noise-induced hearing loss, however, remains unclear and was addressed with the present study. Two different mouse strains, deficient in NOX3 or its critical subunit p22phox, were subjected to a single noise exposure of 2 h using an 8–16 kHz band noise at an intensity of 116–120 decibel sound pressure level. In the hours following noise exposure, there was a significant increase in cochlear mRNA expression of NOX3 in wild type animals. By using RNAscope in situ hybridization, NOX3 expression was primarily found in the Rosenthal canal area, colocalizing with auditory neurons. One day after the noise trauma, we observed a high frequency hearing loss in both knock-out mice, as well as their wild type littermates. At day seven after noise trauma however, NOX3 and p22phox knockout mice showed a significantly improved hearing recovery and a marked preservation of neurosensory cochlear structures compared to their wild type littermates. Based on these findings, an active role of NOX3 in the pathophysiology of noise-induced hearing loss can be demonstrated, in line with recent evidence obtained in other forms of acquired hearing loss. The present data demonstrates that the absence of functional NOX3 enhances the hearing recovery phase following noise trauma. This opens an interesting clinical window for pharmacological or molecular intervention aiming at post prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

More than 5% of the world population lives with a hearing impairment. The main factors responsible for hearing degeneration are ototoxic drugs, aging, continued exposure to excessive noise and infections. The pool of adult stem cells in the inner ear drops dramatically after birth, and therefore an endogenous cellular source for regeneration is absent. Hearing loss can emerge after the degeneration of different cochlear components, so there are multiple targets to be reached, such as hair cells (HCs), spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), supporting cells (SCs) and ribbon synapses. Important discoveries in the hearing regeneration field have been reported regarding stem cell transplantation, migration and survival; genetic systems for cell fate monitoring; and stem cell differentiation to HCs, SGNs and SCs using adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Moreover, some molecular mediators that affect the establishment of functional synapses have been identified. In this review, we will focus on reporting the state of the art in the regenerative medicine field for hearing recovery. Stem cell research has enabled remarkable advances in regeneration, particularly in neuronal cells and synapses. Despite the progress achieved, there are certain issues that need a deeper development to improve the results already obtained, or to develop new approaches aiming for the clinical application.

Hearing loss affects over 460 million people worldwide and is a major socioeconomic burden. Both genetic and environmental factors (i.e., noise overexposure, ototoxic drug treatment and ageing), promote the irreversible degeneration of cochlear hair cells and associated auditory neurons, leading to sensorineural hearing loss. In contrast to birds, fish and amphibians, the mammalian inner ear is virtually unable to regenerate due to the limited stemness of auditory progenitors, and no causal treatment is able to prevent or reverse hearing loss. As of today, a main limitation for the development of otoprotective or otoregenerative therapies is the lack of efficient preclinical models compatible with high-throughput screening of drug candidates. Currently, the research field mainly relies on primary organotypic inner ear cultures, resulting in high variability, low throughput, high associated costs and ethical concerns. We previously identified and characterized the phoenix auditory neuroprogenitors (ANPGs) as highly proliferative progenitor cells isolated from the A/J mouse cochlea. In the present study, we aim at identifying the signaling pathways responsible for the intrinsic high stemness of phoenix ANPGs. A transcriptomic comparison of traditionally low-stemness ANPGs, isolated from C57Bl/6 and A/J mice at early passages, and high-stemness phoenix ANPGs was performed, allowing the identification of several differentially expressed pathways. Based on differentially regulated pathways, we developed a reprogramming protocol to induce high stemness in presenescent ANPGs (i.e., from C57Bl6 mouse). The pharmacological combination of the WNT agonist (CHIR99021) and TGFβ/Smad inhibitors (LDN193189 and SB431542) resulted in a dramatic increase in presenescent neurosphere growth, and the possibility to expand ANPGs is virtually limitless. As with the phoenix ANPGs, stemness-induced ANPGs could be frozen and thawed, enabling distribution to other laboratories. Importantly, even after 20 passages, stemness-induced ANPGs retained their ability to differentiate into electrophysiologically mature type I auditory neurons. Both stemness-induced and phoenix ANPGs resolve a main bottleneck in the field, allowing efficient, high-throughput, low-cost and 3R-compatible in vitro screening of otoprotective and otoregenerative drug candidates. This study may also add new perspectives to the field of inner ear regeneration.

Cisplatin is a lifesaving chemotherapeutic drug with marked ototoxic adverse effects. Cisplatin-induced hearing loss affects a significant part of cancer-surviving patients and is an unmet clinical need with important socioeconomic consequences. Unfortunately, in current preclinical animal models of cisplatin ototoxicity, which are mainly based on systemic delivery, important morbidity is observed, leading to premature death. This methodology not only raises obvious animal welfare concerns but also increases the number of animals used in ototoxicity studies to compensate for dropouts related to early death. To overcome these important limitations, we developed a local delivery model based on the application of a cisplatin solution directly into the otic bulla through a retroauricular approach. The local delivery model reliably induced significant hearing loss with a mean threshold shift ranging from 10 to 30 dB, strongly affecting the high frequencies (22 and 32 kHz). Importantly, mice did not show visible stress or distress indicators and no significant morbidity in comparison with a traditional systemic delivery control group of mice injected intraperitoneally with 10 mg/kg cisplatin, where significant weight loss >10% in all treated animals (without any recovery) led to premature abortion of experiments on day 3. Mass spectrometry confirmed the absence of relevant systemic uptake after local delivery, with platinum accumulation restricted to the cochlea, whereas important platinum concentrations were detected in the liver and kidney of the systemic cisplatin group. A clear correlation between the cochlear platinum concentration and the auditory threshold shift was observed. Immunohistochemistry revealed statistically significant loss of outer hair cells in the basal and apical turns of the cochlea and an important and statistically significant loss of auditory neurons and synapses in all cochlear regions. In conclusion, local cisplatin delivery induces robust hearing loss with minimal morbidity, thereby offering a reliable rodent model for human cisplatin ototoxicity, reducing the number of animals required and showing improved animal welfare compared with traditional systemic models.

Nearly 460 million individuals are affected by sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), one of the most common human sensory disorders. In mammals, hearing loss is permanent due to the lack of efficient regenerative capacity of the sensory epithelia and spiral ganglion neurons (SGN). Sphere-forming progenitor cells can be isolated from the mammalian inner ear and give rise to inner ear specific cell types in vitro. However, the self-renewing capacities of auditory progenitor cells from the sensory and neuronal compartment are limited to few passages, even after adding powerful growth factor cocktails. Here, we provide phenotypical and functional characterization of a new pool of auditory progenitors as sustainable source for sphere-derived auditory neurons. The so-called phoenix auditory neuroprogenitors, isolated from the A/J mouse spiral ganglion, exhibit robust intrinsic self-renewal properties beyond 40 passages. At any passage or freezing–thawing cycle, phoenix spheres can be efficiently differentiated into mature spiral ganglion cells by withdrawing growth factors. The differentiated cells express both neuronal and glial cell phenotypic markers and exhibit similar functional properties as mouse spiral ganglion primary explants and human sphere-derived spiral ganglion cells. In contrast to other rodent models aiming at sustained production of auditory neurons, no genetic transformation of the progenitors is needed. Phoenix spheres therefore represent an interesting starting point to further investigate self-renewal in the mammalian inner ear, which is still far from any clinical application. In the meantime, phoenix spheres already offer an unlimited source of mammalian auditory neurons for high-throughput screens while substantially reducing the numbers of animals needed.

Age-related hearing (ARHL) loss affects a large part of the human population with a major impact on our aging societies. Yet, underlying mechanisms are not understood, and no validated therapy or prevention exists. NADPH oxidases (NOX), are important sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cochlea and might therefore be involved in the pathogenesis of ARHL. Here we investigate ARHL in a mouse model. Wild type mice showed early loss of hearing and cochlear integrity, while animals deficient in the NOX subunit p22phox remained unaffected up to six months. Genes of the excitatory pathway were down-regulated in p22phox-deficient auditory neurons. Our results demonstrate that NOX activity leads to upregulation of genes of the excitatory pathway, to excitotoxic cochlear damage, and ultimately to ARHL. In the absence of functional NOXs, aging mice conserve hearing and cochlear morphology. Our study offers new insights into pathomechanisms and future therapeutic targets of ARHL. Keywords: NADPH oxidase, Age-related hearing loss, Presbycusis, Glutamatergic signaling, Auditory neurons, Excitotoxicity

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) offer a unique opportunity to test the assumption that fishing pressure affects some trophic groups more than others. Removal of larger predators through fishing is often suggested to have positive flow-on effects for some lower trophic groups, in which case protection from fishing should result in suppression of lower trophic groups as predator populations recover. We tested this by assessing differences in the trophic structure of reef fish communities associated with 79 MPAs and open-access sites worldwide, using a standardised quantitative dataset on reef fish community structure. The biomass of all major trophic groups (higher carnivores, benthic carnivores, planktivores and herbivores) was significantly greater (by 40% - 200%) in effective no-take MPAs relative to fished open-access areas. This effect was most pronounced for individuals in large size classes, but with no size class of any trophic group showing signs of depressed biomass in MPAs, as predicted from higher predator abundance. Thus, greater biomass in effective MPAs implies that exploitation on shallow rocky and coral reefs negatively affects biomass of all fish trophic groups and size classes. These direct effects of fishing on trophic structure appear stronger than any top down effects on lower trophic levels that would be imposed by intact predator populations. We propose that exploitation affects fish assemblages at all trophic levels, and that local ecosystem function is generally modified by fishing.