Gas vesicles are air-filled protein nanostructures naturally expressed by certain bacteria and archaea to achieve cellular buoyancy. Here the authors show that, under the stimulation of pulsed ultrasound, targeted gas vesicles and gas vesicles expressed in genetically modified bacteria and mammalian cells release nanobubbles that, collapsing, lead to controlled mechanical damage of the surrounding biological milieu, demonstrating that, under focused ultrasound actuation, gas vesicles have potential applications as therapeutic agents.
- Avinoam Bar-Zion
- Atousa Nourmahnad
- Mikhail G. Shapiro
