J-type assembled Pt(IV)-coordinated carbon dots for near-infrared light-triggered pyroptosis

Abstract Near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered pyroptosis based on biocompatible Pt(IV)-coordinated nanomedicine for tumor precision therapy is challenging. Here, we disclose a supramolecular approach to construct a hollow-spherical supra-(carbon dots) (HS-Pt-CDs) via ultrasound-assisted J-type assembly of Pt(IV)-coordinated carbon dots (Pt-CDs). The peculiar assembling behaviors arise from the steric hindrance and lattice distortion in the bowl-like Pt-CDs caused by the coordination of Pt(IV) atoms among the sp 2 domains, which result in around 240 nm red-shifted absorption bands and promoting charge separation in the NIR region due to strong inter-molecular charge transfer (CT) in HS-Pt-CDs. The results reveal that HS-Pt-CDs exhibit excellent NIR light-activated photocatalytic capacities, involving the release of Pt(II) species, the generation of hydroxyl radicals, and acidification under 690 nm laser irradiation. Combined with the effective cellular uptake and tumor accumulation, HS-Pt-CDs can efficiently trigger cancer cell pyroptosis under 690 nm laser irradiation, resulting in the destruction of the primary tumor and effectively induction of strong immunogenic cell death (ICD), thereby evoking anti-tumor immune responses to suppress distant tumor and prevent cancer metastasis. Taken these merits, an important perspective of Pt(IV)-contained supra-CDs with outstanding NIR-triggered photocatalytic behaviors can be of great significance toward precision tumor phototherapy.