Photothermal conversion-coordinated Fenton-like and photocatalytic reactions of Cu2-xSe-Au Janus nanoparticles for tri-combination antitumor therapy

• Published in: Biomaterials 2020-10, Vol.255, p.120167-120167, Article 120167
• Main Authors: Wang, Yuanlin, Li, Zhenglin, Hu, Ying, Liu, Jing, Guo, Mengyu, Wei, Hengxiang, Zheng, Shanliang, Jiang, Tingting, Sun, Xiang, Ma, Zhuo, Sun, Ye, Besenbacher, Flemming, Chen, Chunying, Yu, Miao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemodynamic therapy; In vivo chemical Reaction; Multimodal imaging; Photocatalytic therapy; Photothermal therapy
• ISSN: 0142-9612; 1878-5905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120167

In vivo chemical reactions activated by the tumor microenvironment (TME) are particularly promising for antitumor treatments. Herein, employing Cu2-xSe-Au Janus nanoparticles (NPs), photothermal conversion-coordinated Fenton-like and photocatalytic reactions are demonstrated in vitro/vivo. The amorphous form of Cu2-xSe and the catalytic effect of Au benefit the OH generation, and the photo-induced electron‒hole separation of the Janus NPs produces additional OH. The plasmonic electrons of Au facilitate the conversion from Cu2+ to Cu+. Both Cu2-xSe and Au contributes to the efficient photothermal conversion, further promoting the reactions. As a result, the H2O2 utilization rate is largely increased, and remarkable generation of reactive oxygen species is achieved by cell endogenous H2O2in vitro/vivo. A competent tumor inhibition effect is afforded, with high-contrast multimodal imaging. This work opens up the route synergistically integrating photothermal therapy with chemodynamic therapy and photocatalytic therapy into tri-combination antitumor therapy, simply by heterojunction of semiconductor and noble metal.