Patent ID: 7741303

Claim:
A method for stimulating the formation of an inner ear sensory hair cell from an inner ear support cell comprising: (a) damaging a first inner ear sensory hair cell by contact with an effective amount of a chemical agent; and (b) locally introducing within at least a portion of the inner ear support cells that are in contact with the damaged first inner ear sensory hair cell a nucleic acid molecule encoding POU4F3, or a POU4F3 transcription factor polypeptide homologue comprising a POU-specific domain having an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% homologous to the POU-specific domain set forth as SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the polypeptide has an amino acid sequence that is at least 50% homologous to SEQ ID NO:4, and wherein the transcription factor polypeptide is capable of stimulating the formation of an inner ear sensory hair cell.