Metal-Free Graphene Quantum Dots: An Innovative Nanozyme for Safe and Effective Cancer Treatment

Sunday - February 11 2024, 18:06 UTC - 9 months ago

A team of researchers has developed a metal-free nanozyme using graphene quantum dots (GQDs), derived from red blood cell membranes. This innovative technology addresses concerns about toxicity and limited catalytic activity in traditional metal-based nanozymes, making it a promising alternative for cancer treatment. The GQDs have shown impressive peroxidase-mimicking activity and selectively target tumors, with no off-target side effects. With further development, this drug-free, biologically benign nanozyme could potentially revolutionize the field of cancer treatment.

Cancer is a deadly disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can have severe side effects and are not always effective. Therefore, there is a critical need for safe and effective cancer treatments, and the team led by Professor Wang Hui at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science in China has made a significant breakthrough in this area.

Their study, published in the journal Matter, introduces a metal-free nanozyme using graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to enhance the effectiveness of tumor chemodynamic therapy (CDT). This innovation addresses the toxicity concerns associated with metal-based nanozymes and overcomes the limited catalytic activity of GQDs, making them a promising alternative for cancer treatment.

One of the main advantages of GQDs is that they are metal-free, reducing the risk of side effects caused by toxic metals in the body. The team achieved this by creating GQDs from red blood cell membranes, which are not only biocompatible but also serve as excellent peroxidase-like biocatalysts. This finding is significant as it opens up a new possibility for drug-free, biologically benign cancer treatment options.

However, the limited catalytic activity of GQDs has posed significant challenges for their clinical application, particularly under challenging catalytic conditions. To address this, the researchers employed a diatomic doping strategy to enhance the GQDs' catalytic performance. By introducing nitrogen and phosphorus into the GQDs, the resulting synergistic electron effect generated highly localized states near the Fermi level, enabling efficient enzymatic activity compared to single heteroatom doping.

The success of this diatomic doping strategy is evident in the impressive peroxidase-mimicking activity of the obtained GQDs. They are highly effective at inducing apoptosis and ferroptosis of cancer cells in vitro, making them a potent tool for cancer treatment. The GQDs also offer the advantage of selectively targeting tumors, with a tumor inhibition rate of up to 77.71% for intravenous injection and 93.22% for intratumoral injection, with no off-target side effects.

This metal-free, target-specific, and biologically benign nanozyme has excellent potential as a potent biocatalyst for use in cancer therapy. With further research and development, this innovative technology could potentially revolutionize the field of cancer treatment, providing a safer and more effective alternative to traditional methods.

In conclusion, the team led by Professor Wang Hui has made a significant contribution to the science of cancer treatment through their development of a metal-free nanozyme using GQDs. Their approach addresses the limitations of metal-based nanozymes and has shown promising results in inducing apoptosis and ferroptosis of cancer cells. With the potential to be a powerful weapon in the fight against cancer, metal-free GQDs are definitely an area of research worth further exploration.