Single-cell gene expression profile of adult cochlea in NIHL vs. VPA-NIHL

Hearing functions through the mechanical transduction of inner ear sensory cells, hair cells, and their connections to the auditory neurons, which convert the stimuli into electrical signals to be detected by the brain. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) caused by exposure to excessively sounds cannot be medically corrected. Strategies to overcome the apparently irreversible noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in mammals become paramount for hearing treatment. The drug has been reported in attenuating inflammation in different species. Here, we tested the effect of the drug in acoustic trauma. We carried out single-cell RNA sequencing to examine the gene expression profiles comparing Drug group with Untreated group in response to the acoustic trauma. Overall design: In experimental group, we treated WT C57bl/6j adult cochlear with the drug (90mg/ml) followed by noise exposure before dissecting sensory epithelium to create cDNA libraries subjected to 10X Genomics pipeline barcoding, library preparation, and sequencing. The untreated contralateral ears from the same mice were treated as control group (Noise-only; NIHL). Gene expression profiles of cochlea pretreated with Drug before noise exposure were compared with untreated, noise-exposed cochleae. NIHL (Noise-only; n=5) vs. Drug-NIHL (n=5).