Near-infrared light enhanced starvation therapy to effectively promote cell apoptosis and inhibit migration

Abstract

Starvation therapy based on the catalytic property of glucose oxidase (GOx) holds great promise in cancer inhibition because of its non-drug use and negligible side effects. However, its inability to fundamentally kill tumor cells and low therapeutic efficiency heavily limit its further application. Herein, a nanoscale fluorinated graphene-based photothermal agent with high loading capacity of GOx was developed, and enhanced starvation/photothermal therapy (PTT) was achieved without using any chemo-drugs or additional reagents. Functionalization of polyethylene glycol and folic acid realized long-term stability and selectivity, and the highly conjugated structure allowed effective GOx adsorption by π–π and hydrogen bond interactions. Fast consumption of glucose, toxic ˙OH generated from hydrogen peroxide and hyperthermia from PTT synergistically guaranteed much better therapeutic efficiency. More importantly, this therapeutic model also effectively induced cell apoptosis with low GOx doses, and allowed us to demonstrate the first anti-migration example of starvation/PTT based on carbon materials. This work presents meaningful insights for cancer treatment without using any chemo-drugs and overcoming the imperfection of starvation therapy by using the carriers themselves instead of additional treatments.