Precise Ultrasound Neuromodulation in a Deep Brain Region Using Nano Gas Vesicles as Actuators
Open Access
- 21 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Advanced Science
- Vol. 8 (21), 2101934
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202101934
Abstract
Ultrasound is a promising new modality for non-invasive neuromodulation. Applied transcranially, it can be focused down to the millimeter or centimeter range. The ability to improve the treatment's spatial resolution to a targeted brain region could help to improve its effectiveness, depending upon the application. The present paper details a neurostimulation scheme using gas-filled nanostructures, gas vesicles (GVs), as actuators for improving the efficacy and precision of ultrasound stimuli. Sonicated primary neurons display dose-dependent, repeatable Ca2+ responses, closely synced to stimuli, and increased nuclear expression of the activation marker c-Fos in the presence of GVs. GV-mediated ultrasound triggered rapid and reversible Ca2+ responses in vivo and could selectively evoke neuronal activation in a deep-seated brain region. Further investigation indicate that mechanosensitive ion channels are important mediators of this effect. GVs themselves and the treatment scheme are also found not to induce significant cytotoxicity, apoptosis, or membrane poration in treated cells. Altogether, this study demonstrates a simple and effective method to achieve enhanced and better-targeted neurostimulation with non-invasive low-intensity ultrasound.Keywords
Funding Information
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1‐ZE1K, 1‐BBAU)
- Innovation and Technology Commission - Hong Kong (MRP/018/18X)
- Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (2018B030331001)
This publication has 64 references indexed in Scilit:
- The mechanobiology of brain functionNature Reviews Neuroscience, 2012
- Ultrasonic neuromodulation by brain stimulation with transcranial ultrasoundNature Protocols, 2011
- Focused ultrasound modulates region-specific brain activityNeuroImage, 2011
- Triton X-100 concentration effects on membrane permeability of a single HeLa cell by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM)Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- Intracellular delivery and calcium transients generated in sonoporation facilitated by microbubblesJournal of Controlled Release, 2010
- Sonoporation by Single-Shot Pulsed Ultrasound with Microbubbles Adjacent to CellsBiophysical Journal, 2009
- Applications of Acoustics and Cavitation to Noninvasive Therapy and Drug DeliveryAnnual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 2008
- Location-Dependent Photogeneration of Calcium Waves in HeLa CellsCell Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2006
- Minocycline prevents glutamate‐induced apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons by differential regulation of p38 and Akt pathwaysJournal of Neurochemistry, 2004
- A study of the strength and stability of gas vesicles isolated from a blue-green algaArchiv für Mikrobiologie, 1971