Angelika Doetzlhofer, PhD

Primary Academic Title

Associate Professor of Neuroscience

Background

Centers and Institutes

Basic Biomedical Sciences, Institute for

Additional Academic Titles

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Contact for Research Inquiries

855 North Wolfe Street
The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience
Baltimore, MD 21205

Phone: (410) 614-9215
Fax: (443) 287-7672
adoetzlhofer@jhmi.edu

Research Interests

Auditory development, Hair cell regeneration, Hearing

Lab Website

Doetzlhofer Laboratory - Center for Sensory Biology - Lab Website

• Auditory hair cells, located in the inner ear cochlea, are critical for our ability to detect sound. Research in Dr. Doetzlhofer's laboratory focuses on ways to identify and characterize the molecular mechanisms of hair cell development in the mammalian auditory system. She is also seeking to identify the molecular roadblocks preventing mammalian hair cell regeneration.

Research Summary

The Doetzlhofer Lab seeks to identify and characterize the gene regulatory networks that govern auditory sensory development and regeneration. The inner ear auditory sensory epithelium is critical for our ability to detect sound. Damage or loss to its mechano-sensory hair cells is permanent, leading to hearing deficits and deafness. However, in non-mammalian vertebrates, surrounding supporting cells undergo a process of de-differentiation after hair cell loss, and replace lost hair cells by either cell division or direct trans-differentiation.

Current research topics include:

• The role of RNA binding proteins LIN28B and TRIM71 in regulating auditory progenitor behavior and supporting cell plasticity.
• The function of Notch signaling pathway in supporting cell development and hair cell regeneration. 
• The role of morphogen gradients in the differentiation and tonotopic specialization of the auditory organ.

PubMed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PI8dcwSGFL5f/bibliography/public/

Selected Publications

• Campbell DP, Chrysostomou E, Doetzlhofer A. Canonical Notch signaling plays an instructive role in auditory supporting cell development. Sci Rep. 2016 Jan 20;6:19484. doi: 10.1038/srep19484. PMID: 26786414

• Chrysostomou E, Zhou L, Darcy YL, Graves KA, Doetzlhofer A, Cox BC. The Notch Ligand Jagged1 Is Required for the Formation, Maintenance, and Survival of Hensen's Cells in the Mouse Cochlea. J Neurosci. 2020 Dec 2;40(49):9401-9413. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1192-20.2020. Epub 2020 Oct 30. PMID: 33127852

• Golden EJ, Benito-Gonzalez A, Doetzlhofer A. The RNA-binding protein LIN28B regulates developmental timing in the mammalian cochlea. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jul 21;112(29):E3864-73. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1501077112. Epub 2015 Jul 2. PMID: 26139524

• Li XJ, Doetzlhofer A. LIN28B/let-7 control the ability of neonatal murine auditory supporting cells to generate hair cells through mTOR signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Sep 8;117(36):22225-22236. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2000417117. Epub 2020 Aug 21. PMID: 32826333

• Prajapati-DiNubila M, Benito-Gonzalez A, Golden EJ, Zhang S, Doetzlhofer A. A counter gradient of Activin A and follistatin instructs the timing of hair cell differentiation in the murine cochlea. Elife. 2019 Jun 12;8:e47613. doi: 10.7554/eLife.47613. PMID: 31187730

Honors

• Hamilton Smith Award for Innovative Research, Johns Hopkins University, 5/17/21
• Basil O'Connor Scholar, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 2/1/11
• Whitehall Award, Whitehall Foundation, 6/1/10

Graduate Program Affiliations

• Neuroscience Graduate Program

  BCMB Graduate Program

Memberships

• Society for Neuroscience,

  Member

• Association for Research in Otolaryngology,

  Member

Additional Training

Postdoctoral fellow at House Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA (2007)