David Zhi-Zhou He, MD, PhD

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Position

Professor

Books

• Not Applicable
  Beisel KW, He DZZ, Hallworth R & Fritzsch B (2008). Genetics of mechanoreceptor evolution and development. In: Audition, Vol. 1. (R. Hoy, P. Dallos, eds.), Elsevier, NY, pp 75-105
  I 2008
• Biomechanics at Micro- and Nanoscale Levels, Vol. III
  Currall B, Wang X, He DZZ. The effect of streptomycin and gentamicin on outer hair cell motility
  III, p. 5-12 2007

Articles

• Hearing Research
  2025
• Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
  2025
• Frontiers in Neurology
  2024
• Science Translational Medicine
  2024
• JCI: Insight
  Matthew A. Ingersoll, Richard D. Lutze, Chithra K. Pushpan, Regina G. Kelmann, Huizhan Liu, Mark T. May, William J. Hunter, David Z.Z. He, and Tal Teitz The widely used chemotherapy cisplatin causes permanent hearing loss in 40%–60% of patients with cancer. One drug, sodium thiosulfate, is approved by the FDA for use in pediatric patients with localized solid tumors for preventing cisplatin-induced hearing loss, but more drugs are desperately needed. Here, we tested dabrafenib, an FDA-approved BRAF kinase inhibitor and anticancer drug, in a clinically relevant multidose cisplatin mouse model. The protective effects of dabrafenib, given orally twice daily with cisplatin, were determined by functional hearing tests and cochlear outer hair cell counts. Toxicity of the drug cotreatment was evaluated, and levels of phosphorylated ERK were measured. A dabrafenib dose of 3 mg/kg BW, twice daily, in mice, was determined to be the minimum effective dose, and it is equivalent to one-tenth of the daily FDA-approved dose for human cancer treatment. The levels of hearing protection acquired, 20–25 dB at the 3 frequencies tested, in both female and male mice, persisted for 4 months after completion of treatments. Moreover, dabrafenib exhibited a good in vivo therapeutic index (> 25), protected hearing in 2 mouse strains, and diminished cisplatin-induced weight loss. This study demonstrates that dabrafenib is a promising candidate drug for protection from cisplatin-induced hearing loss.
  8(24), p. e171140 2023
• iScience
  XiaofenLi, Qirui Zhao, Xiaojie Yu, Wenhan Cao, Yingyi Zhang, Wanying Feng, Liwen Jiang, David Z. He, RobertZ.Qi, and Pingbo Huang Cochlear and vestibular hair cells are highly specialized sensory receptors for hearing and balance. Here, we report a serendipitous identification of a hair-cell-specific organelle in neonatal mouse inner ear, which we name 'apicosome.' The apicosome is ∼500 nm in diameter and shows itinerant nature and transient appearance during development in cochlear hair cells. In contrast to cochlear hair cells, the apicosome persists in vestibular hair cells even in adult. The timing of apicosome translocation and disappearance in cochlear hair cells during development is correlated with kinocilium development and maintenance. The apicosome is not seen in supporting cells despite the fact that nascent supporting cells have microvilli and a primary cilium. Interestingly, transdifferentiated hair cells from supporting cells also contain apicosome, suggesting that it is unique to hair cells. Thus, our study identifies a previously undescribed organelle in hair cells and lays the foundation for further characterization of this specialized structure.
  26, p. 106535 2023
• Journal of Cell Science
  Huizhan Liu, Transcription co-factor LBH is necessary for the survival of cochlear hair cells Huizhan Liu1,*, Kimberlee P. Giffen1,*, M’Hamed Grati2, Seth W. Morrill1, Yi Li1,3, Xuezhong Liu2, Karoline J. Briegel4,‡ and David Z. He1,‡ 2021
• BMC Neuroscience
  Mian Zu, SCN11A gene deletion causes sensorineural hearing loss by impairing the ribbon synapses and auditory nerves Mian Zu1,2,3,4†, Wei‑Wei Guo1,2,3,4†, Tao Cong1,2,3,4, Fei Ji1,2,3,4, Shi‑Li Zhang5, Yue Zhang1,2,3,4, Xin Song1,2,3,4, Wei Sun6, David Z. Z. He7, Wei‑Guo Shi8* and Shi‑Ming Yang1,2,3,4* 2021
• JCI: Insight
  Marisa Zallocchi , Zallocchi M, Hati S, Xu Z, Hausman W, Liu H, He DZ, Zuo J. Characterization of quinoxaline derivatives for protection against iatrogenically induced hearing loss. JCI Insight. 2021 Mar 8;6(5):141561. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.141561. 2021
• JCI: Insight
  Marisa Zallocchi , Zallocchi M, Hati S, Xu Z, Hausman W, Liu H, He DZ, Zuo J. Characterization of quinoxaline derivatives for protection against iatrogenic-induced hearing loss. JCI: Insight, in press. 2021
• Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
  Li Y, Endolymphatic Potential Measured From Developing and Adult Mouse Inner Ear
  14, p. 584928 2020
• Science Advances
  Ingersoll, Matthew A, BRAF inhibition protects against hearing loss in mice
  49, p. eabd0561 2020
• Cell and Tissue Research
  Paul T. Ranum, Alexander T. Goodwin, Hidekane Yoshimura, Diana L. Kolbe, William D. Walls, Jin-Young Koh, David Z.Z. He, Richard J.H. Smith. Interaction with ectopic cochlear crista sensory epithelium disrupts basal cochlear sensory epithelium development in Lmx1a mutant mice. 
  380, p. 435-448 2020
• Frontiers in Neuroscience
  Giffen KP, Liu H, Kramer KL, He DZ. Expression of Protein-Coding Gene Orthologs in Zebrafish and Mouse Inner Ear Non-sensory Supporting Cells. Front Neurosci. 2019 Oct 18;13:1117. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01117. eCollection 2019. PubMed PMID: 31680844; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6813431 
  2019 Oct 18;13:1117, p. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01117 2019
• Scientific Reports
  Sonia M. Rocha-Sanchez, Olivia Fuson, Shikha Tarang, Linda Goodman, Umesh Pyakurel, Huizhan Liu, David Z. He, Marisa Zallocchi. Quinoxaline protects zebrafish lateral line hair cells from cisplatin and aminoglycosides damage
  8, p. 15119 2018
• PLoS One
  Zhang Q, Liu HZ, Soukup GA, He DZ. Identifying miRNAs involved in aging of the stria vascularis.
  9(11) 2014
• Nature Communications
  Ren AJ, Wang K, Zhang H, Liu A, Ma X, Liang Q, Cao D, Wood JN, He DZ, Ding YQ, Yuan WJ, Xie Z, Zhang WJ. ZBTB20 regulates nociception and pain sensation by modulating TRP channel expression in nociceptive sensory neurons.
  5, p. 4984 2014
• Journal of Neuroscience
  Liu HZ, Pecka J, Zhang Q, Soukup GA, Beisel KW, He DZ. Characterization of transcriptomes of cochlear inner and outer hair cells.
  34, p. 11080 2014
• PLoS One
  Li Yi, Liu H, Li J, Zhang Q, Gong S, He DZ (2014) Morphology and ciliary motion of mucosa in the Eustachian tube of neonatal and adult gerbils
  9(6), p. e99840 2014
• Hearing Research
  53. He* DZ, Lovas S, Ai Yu, Yi Li, Beisel KW (2013). Prestin at year 14: Progress and prospect. Hear Res pii: S0378-5955(13)00288-8. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2013.12.002.
  731, p. 3-11 2013
• Brain Res
  Wang X, Yang SM, Jia SP, He* DZZ (2010). Prestin forms oligomer with four mechanically independent subunits.
  1333, p. 28-35 2010
• cytoskeleton
  He DZZ, Jia SP, Zuo J, Latham S, Riordan GP & Kachar B (2010). Prestin function and the structure of the lateral membrane of outer hair cells.
  67, p. 43-55 2010
• Not Applicable
  Jia SP, Yang SM, Guo WW & He* DZZ (2009). Fate of mammalian cochlear hair cells and stereocilia after loss of the stereocilia.
  29 2009
• Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.
  Kumano S, Tan X, He DZZ, Iida K, Murakoshi M & Wada H (2009). Mutation-induced reinforcement of prestin-expressing cells.
  389, p. 569-574 2009
• Developmental Dynamics
  Yang SM, Hou ZH, Young WY, Zhang JS, Yang G, Guo W, Sun JH, Hu YY, Yu N, Yu YP, He DZZ, Han DY & Yang X (2009). Chondrocyte-specific Smad4 gene conditional knockout results in hearing loss and inner ear malformation in mice.
  238, p. 1897-1908 2009
• Neuron
  Dallos P, Wu X, Cheatham MA, Gao J, Zheng J, Anderson CT, Jia S, Wang X, Cheng WH, Sengupta S, He DZ, Zuo J. Prestin-based outer hair cell motility is necessary for mammalian cochlear amplification.
  58, p. 333 2009
• Developmental Neurobiology
  Yang SM, Guo WW, Hu YY, Sun YX, Hou ZH, Sun JH, Wang X, He DZ, Zhai SQ, Young WY, Han DY, Yang X. Smad5 haplo insufficiency leads to hair cell and hearing loss
  69, p. 153 2009
• Brain Res
  Wu XD, Wang X, Gao JG, Yu YL, Jia SP, Zheng J, Dallos P, He DZZ, Cheatham MA, Zuo J. Glucose transporter 5 is undetectable in outer hair cells and does not contribute to cochlear amplification.
  1210, p. 20 2008
• Neuron
  Dallos P, Wu XD, Gao J, Wang X, Jia SP, Anderson CT, Zheng J, Cheatham MA, He* DZZ & Zuo* J. Prestin-based outer hair cell motility is necessary for Mammalian cochlear amplification.
  58, p. 333 2008
• Hearing Research
  Wang X, Jia SP, Currall B, Yang SM & He DZZ. Streptomycin and gentamicin have no immediate effect on outer hair cell electromotility.
  234, p. 52 2007
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  Gao JG, Wang X, Wu XD, Aguinaga S, Huynh K, Jia SP, Matsuda K, Patel M, Zheng J, Cheatham MA, He* DZZ, Dallos* P & Zuo* J. Hyperpolarizing shifts of outer hair cell nonlinear capacitance and electromotility in prestin knockin mice do not change sensitivity or tuning.
  104, p. 12542 2007
• Journal of Physiology
  Albert JT, Winter H, Schaechinger TJ, Weber T, Wang X, He DZZ, Geisler H-S, Hendrich O, Zimmermann U, Gofert MC, Oliver D & Knipper M. Voltage-sensitive prestin orthologue expressed in zebrafish hair cells
  580, p. 451-461 2007
• Journal of Neuroscience
  Jia SP, Dallos P & He DZZ. Mechanoelectric transduction of adult inner hair cells
  27, p. 1006-1014 2007
• Not Applicable
  Jia SP, Zuo J, Dallos P & He DZZ. The cochlear amplifier: Is it hair bundle motion of outer hair cells? In: Auditory Mechanisms: Processes and Models. Nuttall A, Ren TY, Gillespie P, Grosh K, de Boer E (eds). Singapore, World Scientific Publ, p. 261-269 2006
• Journal of Membrane Biology
  He DZZ, Zheng J, Kalinec F, Kakehata S, Santos-Sacchi J. Tuning in to the amazing outer hair cell: membrane wizardry with a twist and shout
  209, p. 119-134 2006
• Nature Neuroscience
  Jia SP, & He DZZ. Motility-associated hair-bundle motion in mammalian outer hair cells
  8, p. 1028-1034 2005
• Nature
  He DZZ, Jia SP, & Dallos P. Mechanoelectrical transduction of adult outer hair cells studied in a gerbil hemicochlea
  429, p. 766-770 2004
• Developmental Brain Research
  He DZZ, Cheatham MA, Pearce M, Vetter DE. Mouse outer hair cells lacking the alpha9 receptor are motile
  148, p. 19-25 2004
• Journal of Neuroscience
  He DZZ, Jia SP, & Dallos P. Prestin and the dynamtic stiffness of cochlear outer hair cells
  23, p. 9089-9096 2003
• Journal of Physiology
  He DZZ, Beisel KW, Chen L, Ding DL, Fritzsch B, & Salvi R. Chick hair cells do not exhibit voltage-dependent somatic motility
  546, p. 511-520 2003
• Hearing Research
  He DZZ, Jia SP, & Feng F. Thyroid hormone is not necessary for the development of outer hair cell electromotility
  175, p. 183-189 2003
• Not Applicable
  He DZZ. Mechanical responses of cochlear outer hair cells. Biophysics of the Cochlea. From Molecules to Models. Gummer, A.W. (ed.), World Scientific, p. 181-184 2003
• Nature
  Liberman MC, Gao J, He DZZ, Wu XD, Jia SP,& Zuo J. Prestin is required for outer hair cell motility and the cochlear amplifier
  419, p. 300-304 2002
• Audiol. Neurootol.
  Zheng J, He DZZ, Long K, Madison LD, & Dallos P. Identification of differentially expressed cDNA clones from cochlear outer hair cells using PCR-based suppression subtractive hybridization
  7, p. 277-288 2002
• -0001
• Science Translational Medicine
  -0001
• Elife
  -0001
• Gao JG, Wang X, Wu XD, Aguinaga S, Huynh K, Jia SP, Matsuda K, Patel M, Zheng J, Cheatham MA, He DZZ, Dallos P & Zuo J (2006). Prestin-based outer hair cell electromotility in knockin mice does not appear to adjust the operating point of a cilia-based amplifier. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (in press)
• Wang X, Jia SP, Currall B, Yang SM & He DZZ (2007) Streptomycin and gentamicin have no immediate effect on outer hair cell electromotility. Hearing Res (under revision).
• Beisel KW, He DZZ, Hallworth R & Fritzsch B (2007) Genetics of mechanoreceptor evolution and development. In: Audition, Vol. 1. (R. Hoy, P. Dallos, eds.), Elsevier, NY, (in press).
• Currall B, Wang X, He DZZ (2007). The effect of streptomycin of streptomycin and gentamicin on outer hair cell motility. In: Biomechanics at Micro- and Nanoscale Levels, Vol. III, (H. Wada, ed). World Scientific Publ. (in press)

Publications

• Cell Reports
  Huizhan Liu, Huizhan Liu, Kimberlee P. Giffen, Lei Chen, Heidi J. Henderson, Talia A. Cao, Grant A. Kozeny, Kirk W. Beisel, Yi Li, David Z. He, Molecular and cytological profiling of biological aging of mouse cochlear inner and outer hair cells, Cell Reports, Volume 39, Issue 2, 2022, 110665, ISSN 2211-1247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110665.
  39 2022
• Science Advances
  Kimberlee P. Giffen, Giffen KP, Li Y, Liu H, Zhao XC, Zhang CJ, Shen RJ, Wang T, Janesick A, Chen BB, Gong SS, Kachar B, Jin ZB, He DZ. Mutation of SLC7A14 causes auditory neuropathy and retinitis pigmentosa mediated by lysosomal dysfunction. Sci Adv. 2022 Apr 8;8(14):eabk0942. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abk0942. Epub 2022 Apr 8. PMID: 35394837.
  8 2022
• 28th Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
  Regeneration of Stereocilia of Cochlear Hair Cells by Math1 Gene Therapy Shi-Ming Yang, Wei Chen, Wei-Wei Guo, Jian-He Sun, Ying-Yan Hu, Shuping Jia, David He
  33, p. 484 2010
• 28th Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
  The Size of R Group Rather Than the Charge Alone Plays a Role in Voltage Sensing of Prestin Xiaodong Tan, Jason Pecka, Kirk Beisel, David He
  33, p. 577 2010
• 28th Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
  Smad4 Gene Plays Important Role on Inner Ear Development in Mice Shi-Ming Yang, Zhao-Hui Hou, Guan Yang, Ji-Shuai Zhang, Wei-Wei Guo, Jian-He Sun, Wie-Yen Young, David He, Xiao Yang
  33, p. 32 2010

Awards

• Intramural Research Award
  Receiving Award from Health Future Foundation of CUSOM

Consulting

• ZRG1 IFCN-E Study Section
  Panel Member
  The panel of which Dr. He was a member reviewed grants for NIH.
  NIH
  2021 - 2021