Nanozyme Decorated Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

TLDR

Metal–organic frameworks have been used for photodynamic therapy of cancers, but their efficacy is severely limited by tumor hypoxia. The study aims to enhance PDT by decorating MOFs with platinum nanozymes. Platinum nanozymes catalyze H₂O₂ decomposition to release O₂, enabling singlet oxygen production even in hypoxic tumor sites. The resulting composites exhibit stable platinum nanoparticles with catalase‑like activity, effectively generating singlet oxygen and demonstrating potential as efficient cancer‑treating agents.

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been used for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancers by integrating photosensitizers, which cause cytotoxic effects on cancer cells by converting tumor oxygen into reactive singlet oxygen (1O2). However, the PDT efficiency of MOFs is severely limited by tumor hypoxia. Herein, by decorating platinum nanozymes on photosensitizer integrated MOFs, we report a simple yet versatile strategy for enhanced PDT. The platinum nanoparticles homogeneously immobilized on MOFs possess high stability and catalase-like activity. Thus, our nanoplatform can facilitate the formation of 1O2 in hypoxic tumor site via H2O2-activated evolvement of O2, which can cause more serious damage to cancer cells. Our finding highlights that the composites of nanozymes and MOFs have the potential to serve as efficient agents for cancer therapy, which will open an avenue of nanozymes and MOFs toward biological applications.