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Tissue-Specific Stem Cells
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Human Fetal Auditory Stem Cells Can Be Expanded In Vitro and Differentiate Into Functional Auditory Neurons and Hair Cell-Like Cells†‡
Article first published online: 23 MAR 2009
DOI: 10.1002/stem.62
Copyright © 2009 AlphaMed Press
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How to Cite
Chen, W., Johnson, S. L., Marcotti, W., Andrews, P. W., Moore, H. D. and Rivolta, M. N. (2009), Human Fetal Auditory Stem Cells Can Be Expanded In Vitro and Differentiate Into Functional Auditory Neurons and Hair Cell-Like Cells. STEM CELLS, 27: 1196–1204. doi: 10.1002/stem.62
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Author contributions: W.C.: collection and/or assembly of data, data analysis, and interpretation; S.L.J. and W.M.: collection, analysis, and interpretation of electrophysiology data, manuscript writing; P.W.A. and H.D.M.: provision of study material and administrative support; M.N.R: conception and design, financial support, collection and/or assembly of data, its analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing, final approval of manuscript.
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First published online in Stem CellsExpress March 23, 2009
Publication History
- Issue published online: 4 MAY 2009
- Article first published online: 23 MAR 2009
- Accepted manuscript online: 23 MAR 2009 12:00AM EST
- Manuscript Accepted: 3 MAR 2009
- Manuscript Received: 15 DEC 2008
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Keywords:
- Fetal stem cells;
- Tissue-specific stem cells;
- Differentiation;
- Neuron;
- Hair cells;
- Ear;
- Deafness
Abstract
In the quest to develop the tools necessary for a cell-based therapy for deafness, a critical step is to identify a suitable stem cell population. Moreover, the lack of a self-renovating model system for the study of cell fate determination in the human cochlea has impaired our understanding of the molecular events involved in normal human auditory development. We describe here the identification and isolation of a population of SOX2+OCT4+ human auditory stem cells from 9-week-old to 11-week-old fetal cochleae (hFASCs). These cells underwent long-term expansion in vitro and retained their capacity to differentiate into sensory hair cells and neurons, whose functional and electrophysiological properties closely resembled their in vivo counterparts during development. hFASCs, and the differentiating protocols defined here, could be used to study developing human cochlear neurons and hair cells, as models for drug screening and toxicity and may facilitate the development of cell-based therapies for deafness. STEM Cells 2009;27:1196–1204