In situ visualization of apoptosis process and modulation of cancer cell ablation based on a monocomponent multi-functional smart nanozyme

Nanozymes have exhibited an excellent prospect in cancer ablation. However, the real-time sensing of anticancer efficacy in catalytic process is often neglected. Designing the smart nanozymes for in situ visualizing treatment efficacy at subcellular level during catalytic therapy is crucial for precise cancer treatment, but hampered owing to the lack of a robust design strategy and efficient synthesis method. Herein, a monocomponent multi-functional photo-responsive carbon dots-based (CDs) nanozyme for instant self-predicting therapy efficacy and synchronous cancer cell ablation is developed through a direct microwave-assisted method. The CDs nanozyme can significantly induce cancer cell ablation due to its unique dual enzyme-mimic activities (oxidase-mimic and peroxidase-mimic), mitochondria-targeting ability, light-response feature improved synergistic therapy and high spatiotemporal selection. More importantly, the excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from catalytic treatment induces mitochondrial oxidative stress, accompanied by decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), which results in the transfer of CDs nanozyme from the mitochondrion to the nucleolus and thus enables the in situ real-time detection of therapy efficiency via fluorescent signal migration. This work not only represents an emerging paradigm with the self-predicting function for precise cancer treatment but also inspires the future design of the new generation of nanozyme.