Synthesis of iridium-based nanocomposite with catalase activity for cancer phototherapy

The combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted attention due to its enhanced tumor therapy effect. This study proposes a novel nanoenzyme-based theranostic nanoplatform, IrO(2)@MSN@PDA-BSA(Ce6), for the combined PTT and PDT of tumors. IrO(2) was prepared by a simple hydrolysis method and coated with a thin layer of mesoporous silica (MSN) to facilitate the physical adsorption of Chlorin e6 (Ce6). The PDA coating and IrO(2) NPs of the nanoplatform demonstrated an improved photothermal conversion efficiency of 29.8% under NIR irradiation. Further, the Ce6 loading imparts materials with the ability to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) under 660 nm NIR laser irradiation. It was also proved that the IrO(2) NPs could catalyze the hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) to generate endogenous oxygen (O(2)), thereby enhancing the efficiency of PDT. The in vitro and in vivo experiments indicated that the nanocomposite was highly biocompatible and could produce a satisfactory tumor therapeutic effect. Thus, the findings of the present study demonstrate the viability of using theranostic nanoenzymes for translational medicine. [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-021-00948-8.