Vanadium Carbide MXenzyme Harnessing Photothermal Effects for Targeted Lung Tumor Suppression and Inflammation Eradication

Abstract Photothermal therapy (PTT) is increasingly favored as a treatment option for lung cancer, a leading cause of cancer‐related death. However, the effectiveness of PTT is hampered by both tumor‐associated and treatment‐related inflammatory reactions. Consequently, there is a pressing need for innovative PTT‐based platforms capable of mitigating inflammation postcancer treatment. Herein, 2D vanadium carbide (V 2 C) MXenzyme nanosheets via a straightforward exfoliation and intercalation process are successfully synthesized. The V 2 C MXenzyme demonstrates a robust photothermal effect, which varied with concentration, density, and irradiation duration when exposed to 808 nm near‐infrared light. Notably, V 2 C MXenzyme exhibits the ability to eliminate A549 lung cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo through PTT. Additionally, the synthesized V 2 C MXenzyme nanosheets exhibited various enzyme‐like activities, resembling reactive oxygen species–mimetic enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase, and thiol peroxidase. V 2 C MXenzyme significantly curtailed inflammation in both in vitro and in vivo settings. Furthermore, gene sequencing analysis of inflammation‐related genes responding to V 2 C MXenzyme nanosheets is performed and identified HSPA1A as a significantly differentially expressed gene. HSPA1A expression correlated with the infiltration of various immune cells in lung adenocarcinoma. Thus, V 2 C MXenzyme may serve as a revalorization platform to suppress lung tumors and reduce inflammation.