The imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in cancer cells would evoke oxidative stress-induced cell death, which has been demonstrated to be highly effective in treating malignant tumors. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) adopts ultrasound (US) as the excitation source to induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which emerges as a noninvasive therapeutic strategy with deep tissue penetration depth and high clinical safety. Herein, we construct novel sonoactivated oxidative stress amplification nanoplatforms by coating MnO2 on Au nanoparticle-anchored black phosphorus nanosheets and decorating soybean phospholipid subsequently (Au/BP@MS). The Au/BP@MS exhibit increased ROS generation efficiency under US irradiation in tumor tissues due to Au/BP nanosensitizer-induced improvement of electron-hole separation as well as MnO2-mediated O2 generation and GSH depletion, thus leading to notable inhibition effect on tumor growth. Moreover, tumor microenvironment-responsive biodegradability of Au/BP@MS endows them with enhanced magnetic resonance imaging guidance and clinical potential for cancer theranostics.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is the most recently discovered gasotransmitter molecule that activates multiple intracellular signaling pathways and exerts concentration-dependent antitumor effect by interfering with mitochondrial respiration and inhibiting cellular ATP generation. Inspired by the fact that H2S can also serve as a promoter for intracellular Ca2+ influx, tumor-specific nanomodulators (I-CaS@PP) have been constructed by encapsulating calcium sulfide (CaS) and indocyanine green (ICG) into methoxy poly (ethylene glycol)-b-poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA-PEG). I-CaS@PP can achieve tumor-specific biodegradability with high biocompatibility and pH-responsive H2S release. The released H2S can effectively suppress the catalase (CAT) activity and synergize with released Ca2+ to facilitate abnormal Ca2+ retention in cells, thus leading to mitochondria destruction and amplification of oxidative stress. Mitochondrial dysfunction further contributes to blocking ATP synthesis and downregulating heat shock proteins (HSPs) expression, which is beneficial to overcome the heat endurance of tumor cells and strengthen ICG-induced photothermal performance. Such a H2S-boosted Ca2+-involved tumor-specific therapy exhibits highly effective tumor inhibition effect with almost complete elimination within 14-day treatment, indicating the great prospect of CaS-based nanomodulators as antitumor therapeutics.