Carbon monoxide (CO) therapy has emerged as a hot topic under exploration in the field of gas therapy as it shows the promise of treating various diseases. Due to the gaseous property and the high affinity for human hemoglobin, the main challenges of administrating medicinal CO are the lack of target selectivity as well as the toxic profile at relatively high concentrations. Although abundant CO releasing molecules (CORMs) with the capacity to deliver CO in biological systems have been developed, several disadvantages related to CORMs, including random diffusion, poor solubility, potential toxicity, and lack of on‐demand CO release in deep tissue, still confine their practical use. Recently, the advent of versatile nanomedicine has provided a promising chance for improving the properties of naked CORMs and simultaneously realizing the therapeutic applications of CO. This review presents a brief summarization of the emerging delivery strategies of CO based on nanomaterials for therapeutic application. First, an introduction covering the therapeutic roles of CO and several frequently used CORMs is provided. Then, recent advancements in the synthesis and application of versatile CO releasing nanomaterials are elaborated. Finally, the current challenges and future directions of these important delivery strategies are proposed.
Photon
radiotherapy is a common tool in the armory against tumors,
but it is limited by hypoxia-related radioresistance of tumors and
radiotoxicity to normal tissues. Here, we constructed a spatiotemporally
controlled synergistic therapy platform based on the heterostructured
CuO@Graphdiyne (CuO@GDY) nanocatalyst for simultaneously addressing
the two key problems above in radiotherapy. First, the in
situ formed Z-scheme CuO@GDY heterojunction performs highly
efficient and controlled photocatalytic O2 evolution upon
near-infrared (NIR) laser stimulation for tumor hypoxia alleviation.
Subsequently, the CuO@GDY nanocatalyst with X-ray-stimulated Cu+ active sites can accelerate Fenton-like catalysis of ·OH
production by responding to endogenous H2O2 for
the selective killing of tumor cells rather than normal cells. In
this way, the sequential combination of NIR-triggered photocatalytic
O2 production and X-ray-accelerated Fenton-like reaction
can lead to a comprehensive radiosensitization. Overall, this synergism
underscores a controllable and precise therapy modality for simultaneously
unlocking the hypoxia and non-selectivity in radiotherapy.
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