Loss of mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear accounts for many hearing loss and
balance disorders. Several beneficial pharmaceutical drugs cause hair cell death as a side
effect. These include aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as neomycin, kanamycin and
gentamicin, and several cancer chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin. Discovering new
compounds that protect mammalian hair cells from toxic insults is experimentally difficult
because of the inaccessibility of the inner ear. We used the zebrafish lateral line sensory …