REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Systems Immunology
Acoustic Immune Reprogramming: A Novel Paradigm for Spatiotemporally Controlled Immune Regulation Using Ultrasound-Responsive Nanoplatforms
Provisionally accepted
- 1Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital, Changzhou, China
- 2Jiangsu University School of Medicine, Zhenjiang, China
- 3Southeast University School of Medicine, Nanjing, China
- 4Southeast University Zhongda Hospital Department of Orthopedics, Nanjing, China
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The maintenance of immune homeostasis is a cornerstone of health, and mastering its regulation is now the focus of groundbreaking disease treatments. This review innovatively proposes and elucidates the "Acoustic Immune Reprogramming" framework: using ultrasound as a catalyst and nanoplatforms as carriers to enable hierarchical, spatiotemporally precise immune microenvironment interventions. It represents an advanced form of immunomodulation distinguished by its capacity for physical programming—the proactive and rational remodeling of cellular functions and tissue microecology with spatiotemporal precision and dose control unavailable to molecular agents alone. The review covers key technological advances in acoustic-mediated biological barrier penetration, local microenvironment programming, and precise delivery of drugs/genes/antibodies. It highlights functional remodeling of macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells (DCs), and the synergistic network effect. From a systems engineering perspective, acoustic nanoplatforms offer remote physical modulation, non-invasive activation, spatiotemporal control, and integrate bioinformatics, materials science, medical engineering, and AI. Three challenges are identified: (1) deciphering "black box" mechanisms via acoustic immune biology and single-cell multi-omics; (2) calibrating biological acoustic dosimetry for "physical input-to-immune effect" translation, plus personalized treatment prediction via cavitation standardization/digital twinning; (3) managing safety boundaries for "immune-programmable" nanomaterials and intelligent closed-loop systems. This review establishes the acoustic immune reprogramming framework, providing a theoretical basis for immune modulation/precision medicine and guiding interdisciplinary breakthroughs. Future advances may make acoustic "spatiotemporal immune sculpting" a cornerstone of intelligent medicine.
Keywords: acoustic immune reprogramming, ultrasound-responsive nanoplatforms, immunemodulation, Spatiotemporal control, Immunotherapy
Received: 29 Sep 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Chen, Chen, Song, Wang and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaolong Yu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.