Therapeutics: Atonal homolog 1 (ATOH1; HATH1); β-catenin (CTNNB1)

Mouse studies suggest expressing ATOH1 and CTNNB1 in ear hair cell progenitors could help treat hearing loss. In postnatal mice, induced expression of ATOH1 and a constitutively active form of CTNNB1 in ear progenitor cells increased progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation into hair cells compared with induced expression of ATOH1 or CTNBB1 alone, and more than one third of the new hair cells survived through adulthood. Next steps could include in vivo testing of ATOH1- and CTNNB1-based gene therapy delivered to the ear...