Schematic diagram of in vivo manipulation of cells utilizing PAHAT. Credit: SIAT
Acoustic tweezers control the movement of target items through the momentum exchange in between the acoustic wave and the things. Their capability to penetrate tissue deeply and produce an effective acoustic radiation force lets them outperform optical and magnetic tweezers, making them ideal for in-vivo cell adjustment.
A research team led by Prof. Zheng Hairong from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has actually recently established a new kind of acoustic tweezers– the phased-array holographic acoustic tweezers (PAHAT) system– which is based on a high-density planar selection transducer capable of creating tunable three-dimensional bulk acoustic waves. The scientists hope this system can recognize a medicinal variation of “telekinesis.”.
The study was recently released in the journal Nature Communications.
Schematic diagram of phased-array holographic acoustic tweezers (PAHAT) system. Credit: SIAT.
The in vivo environment is extremely complicated, due to the different qualities of numerous tissues, organs, bones, capillary, and blood flow. Such a complex environment creates a substantial difficulty: How can acoustic approaches be used to “trap” bacteria so they can produce healing impacts on tumors?
The group examined dynamic target control in complex environments using holographic acoustic fields. They consequently established a high-density ultrasound transducer variety, which made it possible to generate a strong gradient acoustic field and apply accurate spatiotemporal control.
Setup diagram for in vivo control of cells using PAHAT. Credit: SIAT.
The scientists then utilized gene modifying to produce sub-micrometer gas blisters in bacterial cells, improving their acoustic level of sensitivity. These genetically crafted bacteria formed clusters under the influence of the radiation force in the acoustic field. By integrating tiny imaging with PAHAT, the scientists were able to accomplish exact manipulation of bacterial clusters in live mice, hence showing a promising technique for targeted drug delivery and cellular treatment in cancer treatment.
Prof. Ma Teng, co-corresponding author of the study, stated that the scientists could “exactly control germs to reach the sore according to the predetermined course,” while Prof. Yan Fei, co-corresponding author of the study, said that the adjustment innovation enhanced cluster aggregation within tumors, hence effectively slowing tumor growth.
According to Prof. Zheng, “PAHAT enables accurate non-contact control of cells in living organisms. Integrating with functional cells and cell spheroids, it has excellent prospective in immunotherapy, tissue engineering, targeted drug delivery, and other fields.”.
Reference: “In-vivo programmable acoustic manipulation of genetically engineered bacteria” by Ye Yang, Yaozhang Yang, Dingyuan Liu, Yuanyuan Wang, Minqiao Lu, Qi Zhang, Jiqing Huang, Yongchuan Li, Teng Ma, Fei Yan and Hairong Zheng, 6 June 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-38814-w.