A platinum–ruthenium hybrid prodrug with multi-enzymatic activities for chemo-catalytic therapy of hypoxic tumors

Abstract

Regulation of tumor hypoxia and redox homeostasis is a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Nanocatalytic medicine has played more and more important roles in this field because it can cleverly convert the efficiency and selectivity of catalysis into high therapeutic efficiency. Herein, we developed a platinum(IV)–ruthenium hybrid prodrug, named as Pt–Ru, for efficient chemo-catalytic synergistic therapy of hypoxic tumors. The ruthenium hybridization endowed the Pt(IV) prodrug with multi-enzyme catalytic activity, that is, mimicking catalase (CAT) to generate O₂in situ, mimicking peroxidase (POD) to produce reactive oxygen species, and mimicking glutathione peroxidase (GPx) to deplete GSH, thus effectively overcoming tumor hypoxia and cisplatin resistance. As a result, Pt–Ru treatment led to a superior anticancer efficacy to cisplatin both in vitro and in vivo. This work suggested redox homeostasis regulation as a tantalizing angle for developing the next generation of platinum drugs.