#LookInTheLab: From hearing loss to cancer, a glimpse into the Piotrowski Lab
Jeremy Sandler, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the Stowers Institute provided a #LookInTheLab highlighting the research happening in the Piotrowski Lab.
23 January 2023
“We study the sensory cells that fish use to feel vibrations in the water and swim, which are really similar to the hair cells that we have in our ears that help us hear sound,” said Sandler. “By studying how these cells regenerate in fish, we can learn how to restore hearing for humans.”
The primary focus of the Piotrowski Lab is to understand the
development and regeneration of the zebrafish lateral line and potential
applications for promoting hair cell regeneration in mammals to restore
hearing after loss or deafness. One of the big questions the team asks:
Why do people lose their hearing as they age?
In mammals, once hair cells die from aging, or after prolonged noise
exposure, their inability to regenerate results in permanent hearing
loss. This contrasts with species like zebrafish who continually
replenish hair cells.
The team is hopeful their research will show how the zebrafish hair cells regenerate to provide clues for triggering hair cell regeneration in humans, paving the way for hearing loss treatments.
Sandler introduced predoctoral researchers in the Piotrowski Lab that
are working with zebrafish larvae, preparing them for experiments used
to study their hair cells and how they regenerate.
He also highlighted a new microscope the lab is now using.
“This new tool is really great for looking inside the organs we study
and even inside individual cells to figure out how the cells turn on
the genes they need to regenerate. Currently we’re preparing samples to
image to look at the mutants we’re studying to figure out how they’re
different, and how regeneration is working differently in them,” said
Sandler.
The lab’s research doesn’t stop at hearing loss. The team has
developed the lateral line system into a powerful model for cell
migration. The members have identified several genes required for the
coordinated migration of groups of cells and uncovered how pathways
interact to subdivide the migrating cell assembly into leading and
trailing regions. This aids in the understanding of cancer biology, as
several human cancers invade tissues as groups of cells.