- Wu, Yiqian;
- Liu, Yahan;
- Huang, Ziliang;
- Wang, Xin;
- Jin, Zhen;
- Li, Jiayi;
- Limsakul, Praopim;
- Zhu, Linshan;
- Allen, Molly;
- Pan, Yijia;
- Bussell, Robert;
- Jacobson, Aaron;
- Liu, Thomas;
- Chien, Shu;
- Wang, Yingxiao
Focused ultrasound can deliver energy safely and non-invasively into tissues at depths of centimetres. Here we show that the genetics and cellular functions of chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) within tumours can be reversibly controlled by the heat generated by short pulses of focused ultrasound via a CAR cassette under the control of a promoter for the heat-shock protein. In mice with subcutaneous tumours, locally injected T cells with the inducible CAR and activated via focused ultrasound guided by magnetic resonance imaging mitigated on-target off-tumour activity and enhanced the suppression of tumour growth, compared with the performance of non-inducible CAR-T cells. Acoustogenetic control of the activation of engineered T cells may facilitate the design of safer cell therapies.