Sensory hair cells of the inner ear are sensitive to death from aging, noise trauma, and
ototoxic drugs. Ototoxic drugs include the aminoglycoside antibiotics and the antineoplastic
agent cisplatin. Exposure to aminoglycosides results in hair cell death that is mediated by
specific apoptotic proteins, including c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and caspases. Induction
of heat shock proteins (Hsps) can inhibit JNK-and caspase-dependent apoptosis in a variety
of systems. We have previously shown that heat shock results in robust upregulation of Hsps …