Biodegradable Vanadium-Based Nanomaterials for Photothermal-Enhanced Tumor Ferroptosis and Pyroptosis

The designability and high reactivity of nanotechnology provide strategies for antitumor therapy by regulating the redox state in tumor cells. Here, we synthesize a kind of vanadium dioxide nanoparticle encapsulated in bovine serum albumin and containing disulfide bonds (VSB NPs) for photothermal-enhanced ferroptosis and pyroptosis effects. Mechanism studies show that disulfide bonds can effectively consume overexpressed glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment, leading to a decrease in glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) activity. Simultaneously, tetravalent vanadium can induce a catalytic reaction of overexpressed H₂O₂, producing plenty of toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂), leading to tumor cell ferroptosis. In addition, the consumption of disulfide bonds can also lead to the degradation of nanoparticles into high-valent vanadates, activating thermal protein domain-associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes and causing tumor cell pyroptosis. It is worth mentioning that VSB NPs can not only ablate tumor cells under near-infrared light irradiation but also further disrupt the redox homeostasis of the tumor microenvironment, thereby enhancing the ferroptosis and pyroptosis of tumor cells induced by biodegradable vanadium-based nanomaterials. This strategy, based on the biological effects of vanadium to regulate the redox state in tumor cells, provides possibilities for cancer treatment.