Contents
11 July 2018
Vol 10, Issue 449
Vol 10, Issue 449
Research Articles
- Optogenetic stimulation of cochlear neurons activates the auditory pathway and restores auditory-driven behavior in deaf adult gerbils
Virus-mediated expression of channelrhodopsin enables optogenetic stimulation of auditory pathways and restoration of auditory-driven behavior in deaf adult gerbils.
- Modeling of patient virus titers suggests that availability of a vaccine could reduce hepatitis C virus transmission among injecting drug users
A future vaccine could reduce hepatitis C virus transmission among those sharing syringes, even in the presence of postexposure viral replication in vaccinees.
- CRISPR-enhanced engineering of therapy-sensitive cancer cells for self-targeting of primary and metastatic tumors
CRISPR-engineered receptor-specific self-targeted tumor cells demonstrate antitumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo.
- TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly
Treating elderly subjects with two low-dose mTOR inhibitors that selectively block TORC1 led to a decrease in infection rates.
Editors' Choice
- Nature and nurture shape the microbiome
Host and microbial tryptophan metabolism work together to regulate gut mucosal barrier function and metabolic disease.
- A New Hope for chronic myocardial ischemia
Intramyocardial injection of mesenchymal stem cell–derived extracellular vesicles enhances angiogenesis and improves cardiac function in a swine model of chronic myocardial ischemia.
- Let’s talk about antiseizure medications and verbal fluency
Antiseizure drugs modulate functional connectivity in language networks.
Erratum
About The Cover
ONLINE COVER Ascending into Light and Sound. Depicted here is a spiral-shaped staircase representing the cochlea, the spiral cavity of the mammalian inner ear. The most effective approach for rescuing hearing loss relies on electrical stimulation of cochlear spiral ganglion neurons. However, due to the spreading of current around the electrodes, electric cochlear implants provide poor sound definition. Now, Wrobel and colleagues leverage the spatial precision of optogenetics, developing an optical cochlear implant that utilizes light to stimulate cochlear cells. Optical fiber-mediated light delivery into the cochlea promoted auditory behavioral responses in a gerbil model of deafness. The results pave the way for the development of optical cochlear implants with high definition capacity. [CREDIT: LI KIM GOH/GETTY IMAGES]