New Laser-Activated Nanoparticles Generate Hydrogen for Cancer Treatment
- Authors
- Qi Wang, Yishun Ji, Jinsheng Shi, Lili Wang
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1021/acsami.0c03852
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Breast Cancer
- Body System
- Reproductive System
TL;DR
Scientists have created tiny particles that can generate hydrogen gas inside tumor cells when activated by a special laser, potentially enhancing cancer treatment.
Key Finding
Nanoparticles engineered to produce hydrogen gas on-demand inside tumor cells when exposed to near-infrared laser light showed the ability to generate hydrogen and reactive oxygen species simultaneously, potentially enabling multiple cancer-fighting mechanisms in a single treatment.
Summary
Researchers designed tiny nanoparticles (microscopic structures) that can generate hydrogen gas directly inside tumor cells when exposed to near-infrared laser light. The nanoparticles are designed to target cancer cells specifically and, when activated by the laser, produce hydrogen gas along with reactive molecules that can damage cancer cells. This is a laboratory study using cell cultures, not human testing.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage laboratory research in cell cultures with no human testing or animal studies reported. While the concept of generating hydrogen directly at tumor sites is novel, it remains far from clinical application. The study does not provide evidence about hydrogen water or oral hydrogen consumption—it involves injected nanoparticles activated by laser, which is a completely different delivery method than drinking hydrogen-enriched water.
Abstract
As a newly emerging treatment strategy for many diseases, hydrogen therapy has attracted a lot of attention because of its excellent biosafety. However, high diffusivity and low solubility make it difficult to accumulate in the local lesions. Herein, we develop H2 self-generation nano-platform by in situ water splitting driven by near infrared (NIR) laser. In this work, core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) of NaGdF4:Yb, Tm/g-C3N4/Cu3P (UCC) nanocomposites as core encapsulated with zeolitic-imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) modified with folic acid as shell are designed and synthesized. Due to the acid responsive ZIF-8 shell, enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and folate receptor mediated endocytosis, CSNPs are selectively captured by tumor cells. Upon 980 nm laser irradiation, CSNPs exhibits high production capacity of H2 and active oxygen species (ROS), as well as appropriate photothermal conversion temperature. Furthermore, the rising temperature increases the Fenton reaction rate of Cu(I) with H2O2 and strengthens curative effect of chemodynamic therapy (CDT). The excess glutathione (GSH) in tumor microenvironment (TME) can deplete positive hole produced in valence band of g-C3N4 in g-C3N4/Cu3P Z-scheme heterojunction. GSH also can reduce Cu(II) to Cu(I), ensuring continuous Fenton reaction. Thus a NIR-driven H2 production nano-platform is constructed with H2 mediated cascade amplifying multimodal synergetic therapy.