Perovskite Nanozyme-Mediated Sonocatalytic Therapy: A Mitochondrion-Targeted Strategy for Enhanced Cancer Therapy

The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through nanozyme-mediated sonocatalytic therapy has demonstrated remarkable therapeutic efficacy in the field of cancer. Nevertheless, it remains a significant challenge for nanozymes with a single catalytic active center to generate sufficient ROS via Fenton or Fenton-like reactions to effectively induce tumor cell death. In order to enhance the catalytic efficacy, we devised and synthesized a multiple active centre and mitochondrial-targeted perovskite nanozyme (NCFP), doped with cobalt (Co) element, and incorporated 4-carboxybutyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (TPP) as a mitochondrial targeting marker for ultrasound (US)-assisted enzyme-like catalytic treatment of tumors. Considering that perovskite nanozymes have the advantages of long carrier diffusion length, tunable direct band gap, and strong quantum confinement, it can be used as a substrate to increase the production rate of ROS. Therefore, on the basis of the intrinsic catalytic reaction, US is introduced to improve the catalytic reaction efficiency. The cavitation effect releases energy to promote the electron-hole pair separation of NCFP, increase the rate of electron-hole-mediated reaction, and enhance the degree of reaction, thereby helping it to produce more ROS and effectively kill tumor cells. Moreover, NCFP also has mitochondrial targeting ability, which can damage mitochondria more accurately and kill tumor cells. In summary, the successful preparation of NCFP provides a strategy for perovskite nanozyme-mediated sonocatalytic therapy for tumor therapy.