Apoptosis is an important physiological process. Normally, a healthy cell maintains a
delicate balance between pro-and anti-apoptotic factors, allowing it to live and proliferate. It
is thus not surprising that disturbance of this delicate balance may result in disease. It is a
well known fact that apoptosis also contributes to several acquired forms of hearing
impairment. Noise-induced hearing loss is the result of prolonged exposure to excessive
noise, triggering apoptosis in terminally differentiated sensory hair cells. Moreover, hearing …