Remote Manipulation of ROS-Sensitive Calcium Channel Using Near-Infrared-Responsive Conjugated Oligomer Nanoparticles for Enhanced Tumor Therapy In Vivo

The regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive calcium (Ca2+) channels is of great significance in the treatment of tumors. Here, a simple ROS generation system is developed to activate ROS-sensitive ion channels for enhancing calcium-cascade-mediated tumor cell death under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. Upon irradiation with an 808 nm laser, a low-lethality amount of ROS facilitates plasmid transient potential receptor melastatin-2 (pTRPM2) gene release via cleavage of the Se–Se bonds, which contributed to enhancing the expression of TRPM2 in tumor cells. Meanwhile, ROS could potently activate TRPM2 for Ca2+ influx to inhibit early autophagy and to further induce intracellular ROS production, which ultimately led to cell death in TRPM2 expressing tumor cells. Both in vitro and in vivo data show that nanoparticles have an excellent therapeutic effect on cancer upon NIR light. This work presents a simple modality based on NIR light to remotely control the ROS-sensitive ion channel for cancer therapy.