Danti Serena, Azimi Bahareh, Candito Mariarita, Fusco Alessandra, Sorayani Bafqi Mohammad Sajad, Ricci Claudio, Milazzo Mario, Cristallini Caterina, Latifi Masud, Donnarumma Giovanna, Bruschini Luca, Lazzeri Andrea, Astolfi Laura, Berrettini Stefano
Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, via G. Orus, 2b, 35129 Padua, Italy.
Biointerphases. 2020 May 20;15(3):031004. doi: 10.1116/6.0000067.
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) affects the inner ear compartment and can be caused by different factors. Usually, the lack, death, or malfunction of sensory cells deputed to transduction of mechanic-into-electric signals leads to SNHL. To date, the therapeutic option for patients impaired by severe or profound SNHL is the cochlear implant (CI), a high-tech electronic device replacing the entire cochlear function. Piezoelectric materials have catalyzed attention to stimulate the auditory neurons by simply mimicking the function of the cochlear sensory epithelium. In this study, the authors investigated lithium niobate (LiNbO) as a potential candidate material for next generation CIs. LiNbO nanoparticles resulted otocompatible with inner ear cells in vitro, had a pronounced immunomodulatory activity, enhanced human beta-defensin in epithelial cells, and showed direct antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa. Moreover, LiNbO nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoro ethylene) fibers via electrospinning, which enhanced the piezoelectric response. Finally, the resulting fibrous composite structures support human neural-like cell growth in vitro, thus showing promising features to be used in new inner ear devices.
感音神经性听力损失（SNHL）影响内耳部分，可由不同因素引起。通常，负责将机械信号转换为电信号的感觉细胞的缺失、死亡或功能障碍会导致SNHL。迄今为止，重度或极重度SNHL患者的治疗选择是人工耳蜗（CI），这是一种高科技电子设备，可替代整个耳蜗功能。压电材料通过简单模拟耳蜗感觉上皮的功能，已引起人们对刺激听觉神经元的关注。在本研究中，作者研究了铌酸锂（LiNbO）作为下一代人工耳蜗潜在候选材料的可能性。铌酸锂纳米颗粒在体外与内耳细胞具有耳毒性相容性，具有显著的免疫调节活性，可增强上皮细胞中的人β-防御素，并对铜绿假单胞菌具有直接抗菌活性。此外，铌酸锂纳米颗粒通过静电纺丝被掺入聚偏二氟乙烯-三氟乙烯纤维中，从而增强了压电响应。最后，所得的纤维复合结构在体外支持人神经样细胞生长，因此显示出有望用于新型内耳装置的特性。
