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Researchers at Tel Aviv University identified a biological mechanism that could lead to a therapy that can regenerate sensory hair cells in the inner ear, a process that does not occur naturally in humans. The findings were published June 17, 2026, in Science Advances. The work was led by Professor Karen Avraham and doctoral student Lama Khalaily, in collaboration with researchers at Creighton University in Omaha.
Hearing loss is often caused by damage to hair cells in the cochlea, which detect sound and convert it into signals sent to the brain. Unlike birds and fish, mammals cannot regenerate these cells once they are damaged, which makes the resulting hearing loss permanent. Using live tissue imaging and single-cell analysis, the team studied supporting cells located next to the hair cells. These supporting cells normally cannot transform into hair cells. When the researchers inhibited a cell communication system called the Notch signaling pathway, a rare subset of supporting cells entered a transitional state and began converting into hair cells.
The researchers describe this process as a first step rather than a treatment. The regenerative capacity they found is very limited and appears only in a small subpopulation of cells. According to the team, the challenge now is to understand how to expand and activate that ability more broadly, which may eventually involve a combination of genetic and epigenetic approaches. This was a laboratory study, and any potential therapy would require substantial further research before reaching people.
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