Fabrication of an Au-doped Cu/Fe oxide-polymer core-shell nanoreactor with chemodynamic and photodynamic dual effects as potential cancer therapeutic agents.

Nanoparticles are widely used in biomedical applications and cancer treatments due to their minute scale, multi-function, and long retention time. Among the various nanoparticles, the unique optical property derived from the localized surface plasmon resonance effect of metallic nanoparticles is a primary reason that metallic nanoparticles are researched and applied. Copper and Iron nanoparticles have the potential to generate hydroxyl radicals in excess HO via Fenton or Fenton-like reactions.

Keratin-Based Nanoparticles with Tumor-Targeting and Cascade Catalytic Capabilities for the Combinational Oxidation Phototherapy of Breast Cancer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds tantalizing prospects of a prominent cancer treatment strategy. However, its efficacy remains limited by virtue of the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and the inadequate tumor-targeted delivery of photosensitizers, and these can be further exacerbated by the lack of development of a well-controlled nitric oxide (NO) release system at the target site. Inspired by Chinese medicine, we propose a revealing new keratin application.