Multifunctional Mesoporous Hollow Cobalt Sulfide Nanoreactors for Synergistic Chemodynamic/Photodynamic/Photothermal Therapy with Enhanced Efficacy

Dual source-powered multifunctional Pt/FePc@Mn-MOF spindle-like Janus nanomotors for active CT imaging-guided synergistic photothermal/chemodynamic therapy

Nanomaterials capable of dual therapeutic effects of chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) is an efficacious strategy in cancer treatment. It is still a challenge to achieve complete apoptosis of tumor tissue in CDT/PTT due to the poor permeability of nanomaterials in tumor tissue. Herein, we prepared a dual-source driven Pt/FePc@Mn-MOF spindle-like Janus nanomotor by a facile oriented connection growth method for computed tomography (CT) imaging-guided CDT and PTT. The high catalase (CAT)-like activity of nanomotors allows the generation of oxygen (O2) bubbles by catalyzing the decomposition of endogenous H2O2, which alleviates the hypoxic state of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and simultaneously drive nanomotors. Pt/FePc@Mn-MOF nanomotor with excellent photothermal conversion efficiency exhibited dual peroxidase (POD)-like and oxidase (OXD)-like activities, which can produce large amounts of ROS to obtain PTT enhanced CDT. Meanwhile, near-infrared light, as "optical brakes", can trigger Janus nanomotor to realize self-thermophoretic movement. Chemical/NIR-assisted autonomous propulsion can significantly improve the accumulation of Janus nanomotors in solid tumors and enhance their ability to penetrate tumor tissue, thus brings synergistic enhancement effect to PTT and CDT. Moreover, Mn-MOF in nanomotor can deplete the antioxidant GSH by redox reaction to release massive Mn2+, which introduce Mn2+-based CT imaging properties. This novel dual-source controlled Janus nanomotor offers great potential for multimodal therapeutic medical applications.

CoFeSe2 @DMSA@FA Nanocatalyst for Amplification of Oxidative Stress to Achieve Multimodal Tumor Therapy

Nanomedicine has significantly advanced precise tumor therapy, providing essential technical blessing for active drug accumulation, targeted consignment, and mitigation of noxious side effects. To enhance anti-tumor efficacy, the integration of multiple therapeutic modalities has garnered significant attention. Here, we designed an innovative CoFeSe2 @DMSA@FA nanocatalyst with Se vacancies (abbreviated as CFSDF), which exhibits synergistic chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), leading to amplified tumor oxidative stress and enhanced photothermal effects. The multifunctional CFSDF nanocatalyst exhibits the remarkable ability to catalyze the Fenton reaction within the acidic tumor microenvironment, efficiently converting hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) into highly harmful hydroxyl radicals (⋅OH). Moreover, the nanocatalyst effectively diminishes GSH levels and ameliorates intracellular oxidative stress. The incorporation of FA modification enables CFSDF to evade immune detection and selectively target tumor tissues. Numerous in vitro and in vivo investigations have consistently demonstrated that CFSDF optimizes its individual advantages and significantly enhances therapeutic efficiency through synergistic effects of multiple therapeutic modalities, offering a valuable and effective approach to cancer treatment.

Redox-Activatable Magnetic Nanoarchitectonics for Self-Enhanced Tumor Imaging and Synergistic Photothermal-Chemodynamic Therapy

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a prevalent malignancy of the head and neck region associated with high recurrence rates and poor prognosis under current diagnostic and treatment methods. The development of nanomaterials that can improve diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic efficacy is of great importance for OSCC. In this study, a redox-activatable nanoarchitectonics is designed via the construction of dual-valence cobalt oxide (DV-CO) nanospheres, which can serve as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and exhibit enhanced transverse and longitudinal relaxivities through the release and redox of Co3+ /Co2+ in an acidic condition with glutathione (GSH), resulting in self-enhanced T1 /T2 -weighted MR contrast. Moreover, DV-CO demonstrates properties of intracellular GSH-depletion and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) generation through a Fenton-like reaction, enabling strengthened chemodynamic (CD) effect. Additionally, DV-CO displays efficient near-infrared laser-induced photothermal (PT) effect, thereby exhibiting synergistic PT-CD therapy for suppressing OSCC tumor cells. It further investigates the tumor-specific self-enhanced MR imaging of DV-CO both in subcutaneous and orthotopic OSCC mouse models, and demonstrate the therapeutic effects of DV-CO in orthotopic OSCC mouse models. Overall, the in vitro and in vivo findings highlight the excellent theranositc potentials of DV-CO for OSCC and offer new prospects for future advancement of nanomaterials.

Nanomedicine Strategies in Conquering and Utilizing the Cancer Hypoxia Environment

Cancer with a complex pathological process is a major disease to human welfare. Due to the imbalance between oxygen (O2) supply and consumption, hypoxia is a natural characteristic of most solid tumors and an important obstacle for cancer therapy, which is closely related to tumor proliferation, metastasis, and invasion. Various strategies to exploit the feature of tumor hypoxia have been developed in the past decade, which can be used to alleviate tumor hypoxia, or utilize the hypoxia for targeted delivery and diagnostic imaging. The strategies to alleviate tumor hypoxia include delivering O2, in situ O2 generation, reprogramming the tumor vascular system, decreasing O2 consumption, and inhibiting HIF-1 related pathways. On the other side, hypoxia can also be utilized for hypoxia-responsive chemical construction and hypoxia-active prodrug-based strategies. Taking advantage of hypoxia in the tumor region, a number of methods have been applied to identify and keep track of changes in tumor hypoxia. Herein, we thoroughly review the recent progress of nanomedicine strategies in both conquering and utilizing hypoxia to combat cancer and put forward the prospect of emerging nanomaterials for future clinical transformation, which hopes to provide perspectives in nanomaterials design.

Cascade strategy for glucose oxidase-based synergistic cancer therapy using nanomaterials

Nanomaterial-based cancer therapy faces significant limitations due to the complex nature of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Starvation therapy is an emerging therapeutic approach that targets tumor cell metabolism using glucose oxidase (GOx). Importantly, it can provide a material or environmental foundation for other diverse therapeutic methods by manipulating the properties of the TME, such as acidity, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels, and hypoxia degree. In recent years, this cascade strategy has been extensively applied in nanoplatforms for ongoing synergetic therapy and still holds undeniable potential. However, only a few review articles comprehensively elucidate the rational designs of nanoplatforms for synergetic therapeutic regimens revolving around the conception of the cascade strategy. Therefore, this review focuses on innovative cascade strategies for GOx-based synergetic therapy from representative paradigms to state-of-the-art reports to provide an instructive, comprehensive, and insightful reference for readers. Thereafter, we discuss the remaining challenges and offer a critical perspective on the further advancement of GOx-facilitated cancer treatment toward clinical translation.

Mesoporous polydopamine delivery system for intelligent drug release and photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy using MnO2 as gatekeeper

The non-specific leakage of drugs from nanocarriers seriously weakened the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy, and it was very critical of constructing tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive delivery nanocarriers, achieving the modulation release of drugs. Herein, using manganese dioxide (MnO2) as gatekeeper, an intelligent nanoplatform based on mesoporous polydopamine (MPDA) was developed to deliver doxorubicin (DOX), by which the DOX release was precisely controlled, and simultaneously the photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) were realized. In normal physiological environment, the stable MnO2 shell effectively avoided the leakage of DOX. However, in TME, the overexpressed glutathione (GSH) degraded MnO2 shell, which caused the DOX release. Moreover, the photothermal effect of MPDA and the Fenton-like reaction of the generated Mn2+ further accelerated the cell death. Thus, the developed MPDA-DOX@MnO2 nanoplatform can intelligently modulate the release of DOX, and the combined CDT/PTT/chemotherapy possessed high-safety and high-efficacy against tumors.

Comprehensively Optimizing Fenton Reaction Factors for Antitumor Chemodynamic Therapy by Charge-Reversal Theranostics

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is a highly tumor-specific treatment, while its efficacy is compromised by the intratumoral Fenton reaction efficiency, which is determined by the following reaction factors, including the availability of Fenton ions (e.g., Fe2+), the amount of H2O2, and the degree of acidity. Synchronous optimization of these factors is a big challenge for efficient CDT. Herein, a strategy of comprehensively optimizing Fenton reaction factors was developed for traceable multistage augmented CDT by charge-reversal theranostics. The customized pH-responsive poly(ethylene)glycol-poly(β-amino esters) (PEG-PAE) micelle (PM) was prepared as the carrier. Glucose oxidase (GOx), Fe2+, and pH-responsive second near-infrared (NIR-II) LET-1052 probe were coloaded by PM to obtain the final theranostics. The activity of metastable Fe2+ remained by the unsaturated coordination with PEG-PAE. Then tumor accumulation and exposure of Fe2+ were achieved by charge-reversal cationization of PEG-PAE, which was further enhanced by a GOx catalysis-triggered pH decrease. Together with the abundant H2O2 generation and pH decrease through GOx catalysis, the limiting factors of the Fenton reaction were comprehensively optimized, achieving the enhanced CDT both in vitro and in vivo. These findings provide a strategy for comprehensively optimizing intratumoral Fenton reaction factors to overcome the intrinsic drawbacks of current CDT.