Bioengineering Living Biohybrid Therapeutics for Synergistic H <sub>2</sub> S Gaseous‐Photothermal Cancer Eradication
Hydrogen sulfide (H<sub>2</sub>S)-mediated gaseous therapies feature high therapeutic efficacy and biosafety in cancer treatment, but conventional H<sub>2</sub>S delivery protocols suffer from poor tumor specificity and uncontrollable release. Here, a living therapeutic biohybrid is developed that integrates engineered microbes for in situ H<sub>2</sub>S production with self-mineralized copper sulfide (CuS) nanoparticles, enabling synergistic H<sub>2</sub>S gaseous-photothermal cancer treatment. These engineered facultative anaerobic bacteria Vibrio natriegens continuously produce H<sub>2</sub>S and synthesize CuS nanoparticles, forming Bac@CuS living biohybrids that inhibit the mitochondrial electron transport chain through H<sub>2</sub>S production, leading to increased reactive oxygen species production and subsequent apoptosis of cancer cells. Concurrently, Bac@CuS-mediated photothermal effect induces hyperthermia, further impairing mitochondrial function and enhancing cancer-cell death. In vivo studies demonstrate that Bac@CuS living biohybrids feature excellent biocompatibility and have achieved a 95.4% tumor inhibition rate in the breast tumor-bearing mouse model. The biohybrid therapeutic platform enables the engineered bacteria to produce non-native effectors alongside with nanoparticles, integrating synthetic biology with nanotechnology and offering a novel approach for efficient cancer eradication.
Authors
- Xing‐Ding Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2759-5185)
- Yiliang Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9403-9464)
- Xiang Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0699-0351)
- Chengjie Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9303-1436)
- Yu Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9890-9551)
- Wei Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9981-305X)
- Yuelan Liang
- Yingyi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1020-7964)
- Fangfang Duan
- Chenyao Wu
- Jianwei Ding
- Xiaolian Deng
- J. K. Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6290-5748)
Institutions
- Shanghai University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Healthcare Materials
- Published
- 2025-08-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202501621
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.67
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Key Technologies Research and Development Program
- Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province