Photo‐Fenton‐like Metal–Protein Self‐Assemblies as Multifunctional Tumor Theranostic Agent

Abstract

Emerging Fenton‐like activity of copper ions has inspired great exploration for tumor microenvironment‐activated tumor therapy due to the toxic ·OH production for chemodynamic therapy and extra oxygen generation for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Still, the ·OH produced by copper ions is not satisfied even when copper ions are placed in a low pH environment (pH ≈ 5.0). To amplify its Fenton‐like activity, in this work, one kind of Cu2+–protein self‐assemblies (C‐m‐ABs) loaded with photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) is constructed, which can catalyze H2O2 generating more amounts of ·OH under light irradiation once Cu2+ is reduced to Cu+ by glutathione. Such fantastic phenomena confirms that C‐m‐ABs can act as a photo‐Fenton‐like agent. Furthermore, C‐m‐ABs can dramatically accelerate O2 generation (catalase activity) to enhance the PDT of ICG. After loading with the anticancer drug doxorubicin, C‐m‐ABs are further self‐assembled into novel nanobelts, which simultaneously exhibit superior photo‐heat conversion effects, enhanced r1 relaxation (21.416 s−1 mm−1) and stimuli‐responsive drug release behaviors. High cytotoxicity in vitro, effective tumor accumulation capacity observed by fluorescence/photoacoustic/magnetic resonance imaging, and enhanced chemo‐/photodynamic/photothermal therapeutic performance are achieved. Based on these results, a photo‐Fenton‐like metal–protein self‐assemblies demonstrate great potential for tumor theranostics.

A Multifunctional Cascade Bioreactor Based on Hollow‐Structured Cu2MoS4 for Synergetic Cancer Chemo‐Dynamic Therapy/Starvation Therapy/Phototherapy/Immunotherapy with Remarkably Enhanced Efficacy

“…The special TME facilitates cancer proliferation and metastasis, and it is hard to cure cancer completely via monotherapy . Therefore, the combined therapy accompanied with modulating TME is vital for ablating primary tumor and preventing cancer metastasis . Recently, nanozymes based on the catalytic reaction of multivalent metal ion (such as Fe 2+/3+ , Cu 1+/2+ , Mn 2+/4+ ), which mimicked the functions of natural enzymes, had shown remarkable effect in modulating TME and thus enhancing therapeutic effect .…”

A Porous Au@Rh Bimetallic Core–Shell Nanostructure as an H2O2‐Driven Oxygenerator to Alleviate Tumor Hypoxia for Simultaneous Bimodal Imaging and Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

“…Further studies were done to evaluate the catalysis capacity of Au@Rh‐CM under a pathophysiologically relevant concentration (1 × 10 −4 m ). [ 42 ] To better understand the O 2 generation kinetics of Au@Rh‐CM‐enabled H 2 O 2 decomposition, an O 2 probe of [Ru(dpp) 3 ]Cl 2 (RDPP), whose fluorescence can be immediately quenched by O 2 , [ 43 ] was used to monitor O 2 generation. As shown in Figure a, addition of H 2 O 2 (1 × 10 −4 m ) to the Au@Rh‐CM/RDPP aqueous solution caused immediate decrease of fluorescence intensity of RDPP for the first 10 min.…”

The Coppery Age: Copper (Cu)‐Involved Nanotheranostics

“…Meanwhile, this nanocomposite expedited oxygen production because of its catalase activity, further strengthening the PDT efficacy of loaded ICG. [113] The highly active (102) surface of biodegradable CuS nanoparticles (containing Cu + ) was exemplified to be easily degraded by pH and laser irradiation at 808 nm, which released large amounts of Cu + for producing sufficient ROS by laser-enhanced catalytic Fenton-like chemical reaction with desirable tumor-therapeutic consequence. [114] Figure 10.…”