In this project, Dr Elisa Martelletti at King’s College London explores how inflammation can affect the cochlea – the hearing organ of the inner ear – and contribute to the development of hearing loss.
Project start date: October 2023
Project end date: May 2026
About the project
If a part of the body becomes damaged, the body’s first response is inflammation, which should then deactivate once danger has passed. If it doesn’t deactivate, inflammation becomes chronic (long-lasting) and can cause severe damage to the affected tissue.
Inflammation is controlled by specific cells in the immune system, and by the body’s production of pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules. However, we don’t have a good understanding of the inflammatory response in the cochlea – the hearing organ in the inner ear.
In this project, Elisa will determine whether inflammation within the cochlea causes hearing loss directly, or whether inflammation is a response to the hearing loss itself.
How it works
Elisa will study two mouse models which carry mutations in genes involved in the inflammatory response.
Both types of mice develop progressive hearing loss, allowing Elisa to study inflammation in the context of hearing loss. She will investigate the immune cells, and the pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules present in the cochlea of the mice and compare the two models of progressive hearing loss to see if they have the same, or a different, inflammatory response.
How will this project benefit people at risk of hearing loss?
This project will help improve our understanding of the processes that underlie progressive hearing loss and how inflammation is controlled within the cochlea. The findings may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments that target inflammation and in doing so prevent, delay, or reduce hearing loss.
About the researcher
Dr Elisa Martelletti is a Research Fellow at King’s College London. She was awarded an RNID Fellowship for this project, which is co-funded in partnership with the Vivensa Foundation, in 2023.
There is a gap in current knowledge on the role of the immune system in the cochlea and I want to understand how the immune response is involved in the development of hearing loss. I hope to eventually use this knowledge to find potential treatments that can reverse, stop, or delay hearing loss.”
