• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, October 31, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

USC Stem Cell scientists start a buzz around fruit flies in hearing research

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 16, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Image by Ismael Fernández-Hernández/Bonaguidi Lab

Even though a fruit fly doesn’t have ears, it can hear with its antennae. In a new study published in the journal Development, USC Stem Cell scientists describe how adult flies can regenerate sensory hearing cells in their antennae, and how studying flies can provide a new way to understand and develop treatments for the hundreds of millions of patients worldwide who live with hearing and balance disorders.

“Flies provide a powerful way to study the biology of hearing and balance at cellular, circuitry and behavioral levels. We can quickly and inexpensively perform sophisticated experiments on large swarms of flies, and we already possess a detailed map of their genomes and neural circuitry,” said postdoctoral fellow Ismael Fernández-Hernández, who led the study, along with co-author Evan Marsh and corresponding author Michael Bonaguidi.

In the fly, the sensory hearing cells are neurons located in a segment of their antennae known as the Johnston’s Organ, or JO. Despite differences in form, the genetic programs and function of these neurons are extremely similar in flies and mammals. The scientists were able to label, trace and view newborn JO neurons in live flies under microscopes.

In healthy flies, JO neurons were naturally turning over. The scientists set out to discover a distinct “cell type of origin.” Instead, they observed JO neurons proliferate and produce more of themselves–although this doesn’t rule out the potential for other types of cells to also produce JO neurons.

In flies given the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, which is known to kill sensory hearing cells, JO neurons compensated for the damage by proliferating even more. In flies given a different drug, known to enhance the generation of neurons in the brain, JO neurons similarly increased their proliferation.

The scientists also observed the JO neurons developing hair-like extensions known as cilia, and extending long nerve fibers called axons into hearing- and balance-related circuits in the brain. These features indicate that new JO neurons mature and may functionally remodel existing circuitry.

“Flies have the potential to provide many insights into how to promote the regeneration of sensory hearing cells,” said Bonaguidi, who is an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “This is such an important area of research, given that one in three people can expect to develop a hearing or balance disorder by the age of 80. Our results establish a new in vivo platform to expedite the search for compounds promoting their recovery.”

###

Twenty-five percent of this research was funded by federal grants from the National Institutes of Health (R00NS089013, R56AG064077). The remaining support came from a USC-CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia) Postdoctoral Scholars Program Fellowship, a USC Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholar Research Grant, a USC Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the L.K. Whittier Foundation, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation, and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

Media Contact
Tana Watanabe
[email protected]

Original Source

https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/usc-stem-cell-scientists-start-a-buzz-around-fruit-flies-in-hearing-research/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.187534

Tags: BiologyCell BiologyEntomologyGenesHearing/SpeechMedicine/Health
Share14Tweet9Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Impact of Childhood Trauma on Autistic Youth Health

October 31, 2025

Advancing Smoking Cessation Strategies for Individuals Living with HIV

October 30, 2025

Body Image and Spiritual Well-Being in Exercise Addiction

October 30, 2025

Cultural Conflicts Cause Distress for Dementia Caregivers

October 30, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1292 shares
    Share 516 Tweet 323
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    312 shares
    Share 125 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    202 shares
    Share 81 Tweet 51
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    136 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Researchers Discover Novel Energy Potential in Iron-Based Materials

Impact of Childhood Trauma on Autistic Youth Health

UCSB Experimentalists Awarded Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grants to Propel New Insights and Innovations

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.