A ferroptosis-reinforced nanocatalyst enhances chemodynamic therapy through dual H2O2 production and oxidative stress amplification.

The existence of a delicate redox balance in tumors usually leads to cancer treatment failure. Breaking redox homeostasis by amplifying oxidative stress and reducing glutathione (GSH) can accelerate cancer cell death. Herein, we construct a ferroptosis-reinforced nanocatalyst (denoted as HBGL) to amplify intracellular oxidative stress via dual H 2 O 2 production-assisted chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Specifically, a long-circulating liposome is employed to deliver hemin (a natural iron-containing substrate for Fenton reaction and ferroptosis), β -lapachone (a DNA topoisomerase inhibitor with H 2 O 2 generation capacity for chemotherapy), and glucose oxidase (which can consume glucose for starvation therapy and generate H 2 O 2). HBGL can achieve rapid, continuous, and massive H 2 O 2 and •OH production and GSH depletion in cancer cells, resulting in increased intracellular oxidative stress. Additionally, hemin can reinforce the ferroptosis-inducing ability of HBGL, which is reflected in the downregulation of glutathione peroxidase-4 and the accumulation of lipid peroxide. Notably, HBGL can disrupt endo/lysosomes and impair mitochondrial function in cancer cells. HBGL exhibits effective tumor-killing ability without eliciting obvious side effects, indicating its clinical translation potential for synergistic starvation therapy, chemotherapy, ferroptosis therapy, and CDT. Overall, this nanocatalytic liposome may be a promising candidate for achieving potentiated cancer treatment. [Display omitted] • A strategy of breaking cell redox homeostasis is employed. • A dual energy-depletion strategy is introduced. • A nanocatalyst with dual H 2 O 2 self-production ability is constructed. • The strong ferroptosis-inducing capacity and lysosome-disrupting effect are verified. • Combined CDT, ferroptosis, chemotherapy, and starvation therapy are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]