Xuandi Hou

Special Issue Published as part of Bioconjugate Chemistry special issue “Advances in Biological Imaging”. Introduction Click to copy section linkSection link copied! Light is fundamental to biology and medicine, enabling precise imaging, diagnosis, and therapy. (1,2) However, deep-tissue imaging and light delivery remain challenging due to limited light penetration. (3,4) This limitation is primarily caused by photon scattering and absorption, with scattering playing the dominant role.

Abstract Sonogenetics combines genetic tools and low-intensity ultrasound to non-invasively modulate specific neuronal populations and circuits, exhibiting potential for treating brain diseases. This study examines sonogenetics’ potential in a mouse depression model, targeting excitatory medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons projecting to the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN).

Abstract Ultrasound can enable deep brain neuromodulation with high spatiotemporal resolution, comparable to well-known modalities like TMS, tDCS, and tACS. However, conventional transcranial ultrasound still lacks the precision needed to modulate a small set of neurons. Here, we introduce hollow silica nanostructures (HSN) that localize and amplify ultrasonic effects for long-term neuromodulation in male mice brains (>9 weeks) by activating mechanosensitive ion channels.