Characterizing adult cochlear supporting cell transcriptional diversity using single-cell RNA-Seq: Validation in the adult mouse and translational implications for the adult human cochlea

Characterizing adult cochlear supporting cell transcriptional diversity using scRNA-SeqHearing loss is a significant disability that impacts 432 million people worldwide. A significant proportion of these individuals are dissatisfied with or do not have access to available treatment options which include hearing aids and cochlear implants. An alternative approach to restore hearing would be to regenerate lost cells, including hair cells in the adult cochlea. Such therapy would require restoration of the organ of Corti’s complex architecture, necessitating regeneration of both mature hair cells and supporting cells. We characterize the first single-cell adult cochlear supporting cell transcriptomes with the goals of: (1) demonstrating their transcriptional distinctiveness from perinatal cochlear supporting cells, (2) providing a metric for future attempts at regenerating mature cochlear supporting cells by identifying both cell type-specific and regional-specific expression, and (3) identify cell cycle gene expression present in adult supporting cells at the single cell level which may establish a basis for targeting cell cycle regulation pathways to force these cells out of quiescence.