Selective delivery of curcumin to breast cancer cells by self-targeting apoferritin nanocages with pH-responsive and low toxicity.

Breast cancer is prevalent and diverse with significantly high incidence and mortality rates. Curcumin (Cur), a polyphenol component of turmeric, has been widely recognized as having strong anti-breast cancer activity. However, its anti-cancer efficiency is largely impaired by some of its concomitant negative properties, including its poor solubility, low cellular uptake, and severe reported side effects.

Amplification of ferroptosis with a liposomal nanoreactor cooperates with low-toxicity doxorubicin apoptosis for enhanced tumor chemotherapy.

Despite the remarkable tumor inhibition effect of doxorubicin (DOX), its cardiotoxicity severely limits the clinical dosage and further impairs the chemotherapy efficacy. To improve the biosafety and effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy, we propose a strategy to co-deliver DOX and ART to supplement apoptosis with ferroptosis. To this end, ART and DOX were incorporated into ferrous LiMOFs to develop a nanoreactor, utilizing ferrous ions as a catalyst to decompose ART into radicals and thus to induce efficient ferroptosis.