Patent 9572815 was granted and assigned to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on February, 2017 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In one aspect, the invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising agents that activate the expression of Atoh1, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, or polymorphs thereof; and agents that inhibit the expression of p27Kip1, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, or polymorphs thereof, which are useful for inducing the formation of cochlear hair cells; and methods of treating hearing impairments or disorders using the compositions. In one aspect, the invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising β-catenin; and agents that activate the expression of Atoh1, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, or polymorphs thereof. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.