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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuro-Otology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1511938

Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss: Challenges and the Promise of Cellular Plasticity and Epigenetic Modulation

Provisionally accepted
Samprita Das Samprita Das Uri Manor Uri Manor *
  • University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Hearing loss can profoundly impact an individual's quality of life, affecting communication, social interactions, and overall well-being. Many people with hearing impairment report feelings of isolation, frustration, and decreased confidence in social settings, which can lead to withdrawal from activities they once enjoyed. Genetics plays a significant role in congenital hearing loss, accounting for approximately half of all cases. While gene therapy holds immense promise for restoring hearing function in cases of hereditary hearing loss (HHL), current methods face certain challenges that must be overcome to successfully develop therapeutic approaches. This review will explore these challenges and offer a perspective on how epigenetic modulation has the potential to address them, potentially revolutionizing the treatment of genetic hearing disorders.

    Keywords: Hearing Loss, Gene Therapy, Partial reprogramming, epigenetics, AAV (Adeno-associated virus)

    Received: 15 Oct 2024; Accepted: 28 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Das and Manor. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Uri Manor, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.