Similar to other ototoxic molecules such as TNFα, where tumor secretions containing high levels of TNFα led to damage in IHCs and nerve fibers in cochlear explants and loss of synapses in vivo (Dilwali et al., 2015b; Katsumi et al., 2020), application of murine MMP-14 at nanomolar levels onto cochlear explants induced significant damage to nerve fiber and synaptic juxtapositions at the basal pole of IHCs, thereby validating the oto- and neurotoxic role of MMP-14. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is neoplasm.