Study promises new treatments for deafness

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 20 (UPI) -- An Israeli-led team of scientists has identified tiny molecules that might lead to new treatments for hearing-loss and deafness.

The international team, including researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel and Purdue University, found lack of the molecules causes abnormal inner ear development and leads to progressive hearing loss.

Purdue University Professor Donna Fekete said the finding could provide leads to treat hearing loss.

"The molecules we identified could be used as a molecular tool delivered directly into the ears of deaf people to induce regeneration of important sensory cells that would improve hearing," she said. "The molecules also could potentially help people with balance disorders related to inner ear function such as Meniere's disease."

Tel Aviv University Professor Karen Avraham, who led the study, said the research shows a loss of certain microRNAs can cause deafness.

"We found that hair-cell microRNAs are regulators involved in the normal development and survival of cells in the inner ear and are necessary for proper hearing," Avraham said. "Until very recently, science only knew that mutation in protein-coding genes caused deafness. We went a layer deeper and discovered that the loss of microRNAs leads to deafness as well."

The study that included researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, was reported in the April 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.