Biomimetic Fe-Cu Dual-atomic-site catalysts enable efficient H2O2 activation for tumor lymphatic metastasis inhibition

Achieving efficient activation of H2O2 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and further improving the therapeutic efficiency is a great challenge in chemodynamic therapy against cancer. Herein, inspired by natural enzymes, atomically dispersed catalysts with Fe-Cu hetero-binuclear active sites on hollow ni-trogen-doped carbon nanospheres (FeCuNC) are synthesized as catalytic nanomedicines for cancer therapy. We found that Fe-Cu hetero-binuclear sites in FeCuNC can catalytically dissociate the O-O bonds in H2O2 molecules more easily than those of single-Fe sites. Besides, the intrinsic photothermal effect of FeCuNC not only further accelerates H2O2 decomposition to produce abundant reactive oxygen species but also achieves synergistically chemodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy to induce cancer cell apoptosis and re-strain tumor growth. Moreover, FeCuNC can accurately identify sentinel lymph node metastasis and ef-fectively suppress tumor metastasis and recurrence. This work will provide an advanced strategy for the design of advanced catalysts for H2O2 activation in TME, which holds great promise for practical clinical applications.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, atomically dispersed catalysts with Fe-Cu hetero-binuclear active sites on hollow nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres (FeCuNC) were synthesized as catalytic nanomedicines for efficient activation of H2O2 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and improving the therapeutic efficiency. The Fe-Cu hetero-binuclear sites in FeCuNC can dissociate the O-O bonds in H2O2 molecules more easily and the intrinsic photothermal effect of FeCuNC accelerates H2O2 decomposition to produce reactive oxygen species, leading to synergistic chemodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy for cancer treatment. Furthermore, FeCuNC can accurately identify sentinel lymph node metastasis and effectively suppress tumor metastasis and recurrence. This work provides an advanced strategy for the design of advanced catalysts for H2O2 activation in TME, with great promise for practical clinical applications.