Nano-in-Micro GelMA depots assist electro-thermal-immuno orchestral treatment for solid triple negative breast tumor
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits high local-recurrence risk despite modern systemic therapy assisted with surgery or irradiation therapy. Here, we report an injectable nano-in-micro microsphere depot (cPAG) that integrates conductivity enhancement, photothermal conversion, O<sub>2</sub> and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and innate immune agonist co-delivery to support staged, local multimodal therapy. Monodispersed Au@GelMA microspheres prepared <i>via</i> microfluidics and photocrosslinking reduced high electrostatic resistance of GelMA hydrogels and provided stable 808 nm laser-responsive heating. The porous surface possessed abundant electrostatic adsorption sites for loading MnO<sub>x</sub> nanoflowers and anionic stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist. MnO<sub>x</sub> nanoflowers catalyzed H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> to generate O<sub>2,</sub> produced free radical signals and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines secretion <i>in vitro</i>. Co-delivery of agonist and MnO<sub>x</sub> nanoparticles further increased interferon-β secretion, consistent with induction of type I interferon response. In a 4T1 residual-tumor model established by partial tumor resection, a staged regimen consisting of cPAG-assisted irreversible electroporation followed by cPAG-mediated photothermal therapy showed the strongest suppression of local tumor regrowth among tested groups, with maintained body weight during the study window. Overall, cPAG provides a modular nano-in-micro depot strategy to integrate multiple local treatments for postoperative control of TNBC tumor.
Authors
- Yuewen Zhu
- Siyu Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5095-1598)
- Chao Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1688-9233)
- Hélder A. Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7850-6309)
- Huijie Han
- Jiachen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8311-4043)
- Ruixue Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8772-4954)
- Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi
- Ana Catarina Rodrigues da Silva
- Wenguo Cui
- Romana Schirhagl
- Guimei Jiang
- Marc C.A. Stuart
- Lígia Raquel Marona Rodrigues
- Yaping Zhuang
Institutions
- Jiangnan University (CN)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Ruijin Hospital (CN)
- Beijing University of Technology (CN)
- International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital (CN)
- University of Minho (PT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Materials Today Bio
- Published
- 2026-01-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102848
- Primary Topic
- Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00