Ouabain triggers cochlear spiral ganglion neuron (SGN) ferroptosis and hearing loss via SCD1 downregulation. MITF directly activates Scd1 transcription, and the MITF–SCD1 axis mitigates SGN ferroptosis and hearing impairment in ototoxic ouabain and cisplatin models, revealing a lipid metabolic vulnerability and therapeutic target for sensorineural hearing loss.

Nature Biomedical Engineering, Published online: 31 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41551-026-01782-9A protein engineering strategy enables nitric oxide-triggered reactivation of proteins using genetically encoded caged amino acids, allowing inflammation-localized control of protein activity, viral gene delivery and biosensing in vivo.