A Photoresponsive Nanozyme for Synergistic Catalytic Therapy and Dual Phototherapy

Dual phototherapy, including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), has shown a great prospect in cancer treatment. However, its therapeutic effect is restricted by the depth of light penetration in tissue and tumor hypoxia environment. Herein, inspired by the specific response of nanozymes to the tumor microenvironment (TME), a simple and versatile nanozyme-mediated synergistic dual phototherapy nanoplatform (denoted as FePc/HNCSs) is constructed using hollow nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres (HNCSs) and iron phthalocyanine (FePc). FePc/HNCSs simultaneously exhibit peroxidase (POD)- and catalase (CAT)-like activities, which not only can convert endogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (•OH) for catalytic therapy, but also decompose H2O2 to oxygen (O2) to enhance O2-dependent PDT. In addition, their enzyme-like activities are significantly enhanced under light irradiation. Combining with the excellent photothermal effect, FePc/HNCSs realize a high tumor inhibition rate of 96.3%. This strategy opens a new horizon for exploring a more powerful tumor treatment nanoplatform.