Inner Ear, Retinal and Laryngeal Regeneration
Research > Inner Ear, Retinal and Laryngeal Regeneration
The use of stem cells for the regeneration of highly specialized sensory cells like the photoreceptors of the retina and hair cells of the inner ear, as well as biophysically complex tissue structures such as the vocal folds, has been an active area of research at UW – Madison and elsewhere. For example, a number of investigators have described the use of embryonic stem cells, adult inner ear stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells to generate the hair cells of the inner ear whose loss underlies most forms of hearing loss in humans. Ongoing research in the lab or Dr. Samuel Gubbels at the University of Wisconsin – Madison focuses on defining a method for the generation of inner ear hair cells from human pluripotent stem cells in culture and evaluating the factors most critical to allow for the integration of stem cells transplanted into the mammalian inner ear. By doing so, the Gubbels laboratory hopes to contribute to the development of novel therapies to treat sensorineural hearing loss in the future.
Inherited and acquired diseases of the retina are a significant cause of incurable vision loss in humans. Dr. Gamm's lab focuses on the development of new treatment strategies to slow, halt, or reverse these potentially blinding processes. To achieve this goal, his lab studies the molecular mechanisms controlling the specification and maturation of specific retinal cell types from human progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Knowledge obtained from these studies is applied to transplantation experiments in animal models of retinal degeneration. Ultimately, it is their hope that this work will contribute to the development of effective interventions for visually disabling eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.
Specific to the larynx, the overall goal of research at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is to develop in vivo tissue constructs to facilitate tissue regeneration while maintaining the natural biomechanical properties of the native vocal fold, in order to generate or reestablish unhindered phonation. Investigators are focused on the role of migrating progenitor cells in vocal fold tissue repair and regeneration, resident vocal fold cells with stem cell-like properties, and therapeutic approaches that combine local or allogeneic stem cells, diverse scaffolds and biomaterials, biomechanical parameters such as stress, strain and vibration, and novel surgical approaches for accessing and manipulating the vocal fold vibratory layer. Our research questions are informed by the challenges we encounter in clinical practice; hence, our discoveries are well positioned to directly improve the care of patients with laryngeal disease.
This research is often interdisciplinary, taking advantage of novel technology platforms for high-throughput screening. This work may provide important information useful for controlling the fate of stem cells in future studies. This, in turn, may allow their differentiation towards clinically important tissues while controlling potential tumor risk.
Faculty: David Gamm, Sam Gubbels, Susan Thibault, Nansi Jo Colley, Seth Dailey, Nathan Welham