NIR-switchable local hydrogen generation by tandem bimetallic MOFs nanocomposites for enhanced chemodynamic therapy.

The inadequate quantity of hydrogen peroxide (HO) in cancer cells promptly results in the constrained success of chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Significant efforts made throughout the years; nevertheless, researchers are still facing the great challenge of designing a CDT agent and securing HO supply within the tumor cell. In this study, taking advantage of HO level maintenance mechanism in cancer cells, a nanozyme-based bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) tandem reactor is fabricated to elevate intracellular HO levels, thereby enhancing CDT. In addition, under near-infrared excitation, the upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) loaded into the MOFs can perform photocatalysis and generate hydrogen, which increases cellular susceptibility to radicals induced from HO, inhibits cancer cell energy, causes DNA damages and induces tumor cell apoptosis, thus improving CDT therapeutic efficacy synergistically. The proposed nanozyme-based bimetallic MOFs-mediated CDT and UCNPs-mediated hydrogen therapy act as combined therapy with high efficacy and low toxicity.