RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Achieving Single Cell Acoustic Localisation with Deactivation Super Resolution JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2024.09.20.614052 DO 10.1101/2024.09.20.614052 A1 Smith, Cameron A. B. A1 Duan, Mengtong A1 Yan, Jipeng A1 Taylor, Laura A1 Shapiro, Mikhail G. A1 Tang, Meng-Xing YR 2024 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/09/24/2024.09.20.614052.abstract AB Super-resolution optical microscopy enables optical imaging of cells, molecules and other biological structures beyond the diffraction limit. However, no similar method exists to super-resolve specific cells with ultrasound. Here we introduce Deactivation Super Resolution (DSR), an ultrasound imaging method that uses the acoustic deactivation of genetically encodable contrast agents to super-resolve individual cells with ultrasound as they navigate through structures that cannot be resolved by conventional imaging methods. DSR takes advantage of gas vesicles, which are air-filled sub-micron protein particles that can be expressed in genetically engineered cells to produce ultrasound contrast. Our experimental results show that DSR can distinguish sub-wavelength microstructures that standard B-mode ultrasound images fail to resolve by super- localizing individual mammalian cells. This study provides a proof of concept for the potential of DSR to serve as a super- resolution ultrasound technique for individual cell localization, opening new horizons in the field.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.