Research progress of enzyme-like behavior nanoparticles in tumor treatment

Abstract

Tumor is one of the major diseases threatening human health. Traditional treatment methods (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy) can effectively suppress tumors, but they often accompanied with unnecessary side effects. Thanks to the development of nanoparticles that can accumulate at tumor tissues through permeability and retention effects, and release the loading drugs triggered by the unique tumor microenvironment to enhance tumor therapy effect and reduce toxic side effects on normal tissues. In particular, nanoenzyme prepared based on nanoparticles not only exhibit biological activity similar to natural enzymes, but also undergo Fenton-like reactions with the high expression of hydrogen peroxide in tumor tissues to generate hydroxyl radicals and oxygen, inducing apoptosis and necrosis of cells while alleviating the hypoxic state of tumor tissues. Moreover, the utilization of the biological properties of nanoparticles themselves achieves a cascade effect in tumor treatment. Comparing to natural enzyme, nanozyme features in easy fabrication, high stability, high recycling efficiency and the capability of achieving targeted delivery to tumor tissues, and are thus widely employed in tumor combination therapy based on chemodynamic therapy. Therefore, this review summarizes and reviews the cascade effect of nanoenzyme designed based on the specific tumor microenvironment for tumor treatment in recent years and also looks forward to their potential applications in future tumor treatment.

Graphical Abstract