Chen Lab
Principal Investigator: Hong Chen
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis (Saint Louis, MO)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Achieving noninvasive, cell-type-specific, and spatially precise neuromodulation remains to be a major challenge in the development of neuromodulation technologies. The objective of this project is to develop Sonogenetics 2.0, the next-generation sonogenetic technique for cell-type-specific, spatially precise neuromodulation in the whole brain of freely behaving animals without intracranial surgery. Sonogenetics 2.0 employs low-intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) combined with microbubbles to deliver intranasally administered adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to the FUS-targeted brain region with minimal systemic exposure. It then utilizes FUS sonication to remotely activate the expressed ultrasound-sensitive ion channels encoded by the AAVs and thereby controls the activity of AAV-transduced neurons. Sonogenetics 2.0 addresses three critical barriers to developing sonogenetics: the lacks molecular probes with optimized ultrasound sensitivity (Aim 1), requires surgical injection of viral vectors to express the probes (Aim 2), and has a low spatial resolution in delivering ultrasound in the mouse brain (Aim 3). Sonogenetics 2.0 will be independently validated b…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01NS128461-04: Sonogenetics 2.0 (2026)
- 4DP1DK143574-03: Ultrasound-induced artificial hibernation: Mimicking natural hibernation to enhance human health (2026)
- 5R01EB030102-07: Focused ultrasound-enabled brain tumor liquid biopsy (2026)
- 5R01EB027223-08: Focused ultrasound-mediated intranasal brain drug delivery technique (FUSIN) (2026)
- 5DP1DK143574-02: Ultrasound-induced artificial hibernation: Mimicking natural hibernation to enhance human health (2025)
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