Germany and UK: Middle ear disease

Stem cells in middle ear cholesteatoma contribute to its pathogenesis

Nagel J, Wollner S, Schurmann M, Brotzmann V, Muller J, Greiner JFW, Goen P, Kaltschmidt B, Kaltschmidt C, Sudhoff H.

Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Klinikum Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany. Department of Cell Biology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany. Department of Dermatology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK. AG Molecular Neurobiology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany | April 2018 | Nature Scientific Reports 8: 6204.

Cholesteatoma is a middle ear lesion that can result in ear pain and hearing loss. The researchers show that stem cells inside the cholesteatoma tissue play a part in the progression of the disease. Real time PCR was used to measure gene expression levels of the pro-inflammatory genes TNFa and A20, along with the innate immune protein lipocalin 2 and the Toll like receptor 4, which is a mediator of inflammatory signalling.