{"title":"Gene therapy restores auditory function and rescues damaged inner hair cells in an aged Vglut3 knockout mouse model.","authors":"Xingle Zhao, Hongen Xu, Chengyu Lian, Shousen Hu, Yue Zhao, Jia Wang, Rongqun Zhai, Mihuan Yang, Yuanjing Zhang, Wei Lu, Wenxue Tang, Liang Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41434-025-00558-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) is prominently expressed in the inner hair cells of the cochlea, playing a vital role in auditory signal transmission to the brain. Previous studies have shown that Vglut3 gene knockout in mice causes severe sensorineural hearing loss without affecting hair cell integrity. However, the cochlear structure of the aged Vglut3<sup>KO</sup> remains inadequately explored. In this study, we analyzed the cochlear structure of aged Vglut3<sup>KO</sup> mice, revealing significant degeneration of inner hair cells, synapses, and stereocilia. To explore the potential of gene therapy to restore cochlear structure, we employed AAV8 vectors to express Vglut3 in the cochleae of 5-week-old Vglut3<sup>KO</sup> mice. Twenty-seven weeks post-injection, we conducted a series of experiments to evaluate the efficacy of our gene therapy approach. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing demonstrated restoration of auditory function following gene therapy. Immunohistochemical staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed substantial recovery of inner hair cells and stereocilia post-injection. Our findings provide important insights into the development of novel therapeutic strategies for age-related hearing loss.</p>","PeriodicalId":12699,"journal":{"name":"Gene Therapy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gene Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41434-025-00558-1","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) is prominently expressed in the inner hair cells of the cochlea, playing a vital role in auditory signal transmission to the brain. Previous studies have shown that Vglut3 gene knockout in mice causes severe sensorineural hearing loss without affecting hair cell integrity. However, the cochlear structure of the aged Vglut3KO remains inadequately explored. In this study, we analyzed the cochlear structure of aged Vglut3KO mice, revealing significant degeneration of inner hair cells, synapses, and stereocilia. To explore the potential of gene therapy to restore cochlear structure, we employed AAV8 vectors to express Vglut3 in the cochleae of 5-week-old Vglut3KO mice. Twenty-seven weeks post-injection, we conducted a series of experiments to evaluate the efficacy of our gene therapy approach. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing demonstrated restoration of auditory function following gene therapy. Immunohistochemical staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed substantial recovery of inner hair cells and stereocilia post-injection. Our findings provide important insights into the development of novel therapeutic strategies for age-related hearing loss.
期刊介绍:
Gene Therapy covers both the research and clinical applications of novel therapeutic techniques based on a genetic component. Over the last few decades, significant advances in technologies ranging from identifying novel genetic targets that cause disease through to clinical studies, which show therapeutic benefit, have elevated this multidisciplinary field to the forefront of modern medicine.