# Zebrafish Inner Ear Regeneration

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2022 · $223,209

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Mechanosensory hair cell loss in the inner ear is a leading cause of hearing and balance disorders.
Unfortunately hair cell loss is permanent as humans have little or no capacity for regenerative recovery of hair
cells. Although there has been recent progress in the restoration of hair cells in mammals by promoting
expression of genes and pathways used during development, functional restoration is largely incomplete and
within a limited window of postnatal development. By contrast non-mammalian species from fish to birds
readily replace hair cells from surrounding supporting cell precursors. Critical to understanding hair cell
regeneration is the identification of the subpopulations of supporting cells that sustain regeneration. The
zebrafish is well established as a system to study regeneration with the advantages of advanced genetics and
in vivo imaging of living animals. Considerable progress has been made on understanding regeneration in the
lateral line system, the series of mechanosensory hair cells on the surface of the body used detect water flow
that share many properties with hair cells of the inner ear. By contrast there have been very few studies of hair
cell regeneration in the zebrafish inner ear, mainly because there has been no reliable method for causing
rapid and reproducible damage. In addition little is known about supporting cell types in the zebrafish inner
ear. Overcoming both of these obstacles would establish the zebrafish inner ear as a new model for hair cell
regeneration. We propose to develop tools for rapid, reproducible damage and regeneration in the zebrafish
inner ear. We also propose to identify inner ear supporting cell types, including potential hair cell precursors.
Successful completion of these aims will provide important tools for the community to begin new studies in
zebrafish inner ear regeneration.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10349933
- **Project number:** 1R21DC019948-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** David W Raible
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $223,209
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10349933

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10349933, Zebrafish Inner Ear Regeneration (1R21DC019948-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10349933. Licensed CC0.

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