Notch pathway inhibitor DAPT enhances Atoh1 activity to generate new hair cells in situ in rat cochleae.

Atoh1 overexpression in cochlear epithelium induces new hair cell formation. Use of adenovirus-mediated Atoh1 overexpression has mainly focused on the rat lesser epithelial ridge and induces ectopic hair cell regeneration. The sensory region of rat cochlea is difficult to transfect, thus new hair cells are rarely produced in situ in rat cochlear explants. After culturing rat cochleae in medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, adenovirus successfully infected the sensory region as the width of the supporting cell area was significantly increased. Adenovirus encoding Atoh1 infected the sensory region and induced hair cell formation in situ. Combined application of the Notch inhibitor DAPT and Atoh1 increased the Atoh1 expression level and decreased hes1 and hes5 levels, further promoting hair cell generation. Our results demonstrate that DAPT enhances Atoh1 activity to promote hair cell regeneration in rat cochlear sensory epithelium in vitro.