Editorial: Sensory Hair Cell Death and Regeneration

Sensory hair cells are specializedmechanosensory receptors found in vertebrate auditory, vestibular and lateral line organs that transduce vibratory and acoustic stimuli into the sensations of hearing and balance. Sensorineural hearing loss typically occurs when hair cells are damaged from infection, noise exposure, drugs (called ototoxins), and age-related decline. Unfortunately, as hair cell regeneration does not occur to any significant extent in mammals, damage to these cells in humans leads to hearing and balance disorders. The signaling mechanisms that cause hair cell damage are incompletely understood and vary with the type of damage involved, and a given form of damage can activate multiple cell signaling cascades, complicating our understanding of these damage processes and the development of potential therapeutics. Yang et al. present a comprehensive overview of hair cell damage across stimuli. Other papers in this Research Topic offer more focused reviews or original research, as described below.