Nanozymes are nanomaterials with similar catalytic activities to natural enzymes. Compared with natural enzymes, they have numerous advantages, including higher physiochemical stability, versatility, and suitability for mass production. In the past decade, the synthesis of nanozymes and their catalytic mechanisms have advanced beyond the simple replacement of natural enzymes, allowing for fascinating applications in various fields such as biosensing and disease treatment. In particular, the exploration of nanozymes as powerful toolkits in diagnostic viral testing and antiviral therapy has attracted growing attention. It can address the great challenges faced by current natural enzyme‐based viral testing technologies, such as high cost and storage difficulties. Therefore, nanozyme can provide a novel nanozyme‐based antiviral therapeutic regime with broader availability and generalizability that are keys to fighting a pandemic such as COVID‐19. Herein, we provide a timely review of the state‐of‐the‐art nanozymes regarding their catalytic activities, as well as a focused discussion on recent research into the use of nanozymes in viral testing and therapy. The remaining challenges and future perspectives will also be outlined. Ultimately, this review will inform readers of the current knowledge of nanozymes and inspire more innovative studies to push forward the frontier of this field.

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Although stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonists has shown great promise in preclinical studies, the clinical development of STING agonist therapy is challenged by its limited systemic delivery. Here, positively charged fusogenic liposomes loaded with a STING agonist (PoSTING) are designed for systemic delivery and to preferentially target the tumor microenvironment. When PoSTING is administered intravenously, it selectively targets not only tumor cells but also immune and tumor endothelial cells (ECs). In particular, delivery of STING agonists to tumor ECs normalizes abnormal tumor vasculatures, induces intratumoral STING activation, and elicits robust anti‐tumor T cell immunity within the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, PoSTING can be used as a systemic delivery platform to overcome the limitations of using STING agonists in clinical trials.

The exploration of nanozymes possessing similar catalytic activities to natural enzymes as powerful toolkits in diagnostic viral testing and antiviral therapy has attracted growing attention. It addresses the challenges faced by current natural enzyme‐based technologies. Ultimately, this review will inform readers about current knowledge of nanozymes and inspire more innovative studies to push forward the frontier of this field.

A reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsive cleavable hierarchical metallic supra‐nanostructure (HMSN) is reported. HMSN structured with thin branches composed of primary gold (Au) nanocrystals and silver (Ag) nano‐linkers is synthesized by a one‐pot aqueous synthesis with a selected ratio of Au/Ag/cholate. ROS responsive degradability of HMSN is tested in the presence of endogenous and exogeneous ROS. Significant ROS‐responsive structural deformation of HMSN is observed in the ROS exposure with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution. The ROS responsiveness of HMSN is significantly comparable with negligible structural changes of conventional spherical gold nanoparticles. The demonstrated ROS responsive degradation of HMSN is further confirmed in various in vitro ROS conditions of each cellular endogenous ROS and exogeneous ROS generated by photodynamic therapy (PDT) or X‐ray radiation. Then, in vivo ROS responsive degradability of HMSN is further evaluated with intratumoral injection of HMSN and exogeneous ROS generation via PDT in a mouse tumor model. Additional in vivo biodistribution and toxicity of intravenously administrated HMSN at 30‐day post‐injection are investigated for potential in vivo applications. The observed ROS responsive degradability of HMSN will provide a promising option for a type of ROS responsive‐multifunctional nanocarriers in cancer treatment and various biomedical applications.

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