Control of hair cell development by molecular pathways involving Atoh1, Hes1 and Hes5

•Relationship between Atoh1, Hes1, Hes5 and the up/downstream genes is summarized.•Regulatory network by Atoh1, Hes1, and Hes5 is crucial for hair cell differentiation.•Regulatory mechanism of up/downstream genes of Atoh1, Hes1 and Hes5 is discussed.

Atoh1, Hes1 and Hes5 are crucial for normal inner ear hair cell development. They regulate the expression of each other in a complex network, while they also interact with many other genes and pathways, such as Notch, FGF, SHH, WNT, BMP and RA. This paper summarized molecular pathways that involve Atoh1, Hes1, and Hes5. Some of the pathways and gene regulation mechanisms discussed here were studied in other tissues, yet they might inspire studies in inner ear hair cell development. Thereby, we presented a complex regulatory network involving these three genes, which might be crucial for proliferation and differentiation of inner ear hair cells.