Photoactivatable Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Orchestrate a Self-Amplifying Immunogenic Cell Death–STING Signaling Circuit for Tumor Immune Rewiring

Solid tumors characterized by intrinsically low immunogenicity and a profoundly immunosuppressive microenvironment remain largely refractory to current cancer immunotherapies. Here, a photoactivatable nanozyme-integrated microneedle platform (HTHPH MNs) is developed to enable spatiotemporally controlled immunomodulation via a self-cascaded immunogenic cell death (ICD)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) amplification circuit. Hollow mesoporous Prussian blue (HMPB) nanozymes coloaded with hydroxyurea (HU) and thapsigargin (TG) are embedded within a poly(γ-glutamic acid) microneedle matrix, allowing localized and minimally invasive intratumoral delivery. Upon near-infrared irradiation, the nanozymes simultaneously induce mild hyperthermia and catalyze endogenous hydrogen peroxide into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, suppressing heat shock protein-mediated thermotolerance and triggering robust ICD. HU inhibits DNA replication and repair, promoting cytosolic double-stranded DNA accumulation and activation of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway, while TG induces endoplasmic reticulum Ca<sup>2+</sup> depletion to relieve stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1)-mediated inhibition of STING trafficking, thereby amplifying type I interferon signaling. This trimodal self-amplifying immune cascade enhances tumor immunogenicity, remodels the tumor immune microenvironment, and elicits potent local and systemic T cell-mediated antitumor responses. Collectively, this work establishes a nanozyme-microneedle-integrated strategy for the precise orchestration of innate and adaptive antitumor immunity.

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Publication Details

Journal
ACS Nano
Published
2026-03-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c21899
Primary Topic
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
Type
article
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article

Photoactivatable Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Orchestrate a Self-Amplifying Immunogenic Cell Death–STING Signaling Circuit for Tumor Immune Rewiring

Xia Liu, Yushu Dong, Shuiling Chen, Mingwei Li et al.
ACS Nano
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
article

Photoactivatable Nanozyme-Integrated Microneedles Orchestrate a Self-Amplifying Immunogenic Cell Death–STING Signaling Circuit for Tumor Immune Rewiring

Xia Liu, Yushu Dong, Shuiling Chen, Mingwei Li, Shaobing Zhou, Rongjie Yang, Yu Zhang, Jianwen Hou
article en

Abstract

Solid tumors characterized by intrinsically low immunogenicity and a profoundly immunosuppressive microenvironment remain largely refractory to current cancer immunotherapies. Here, a photoactivatable nanozyme-integrated microneedle platform (HTHPH MNs) is developed to enable spatiotemporally controlled immunomodulation via a self-cascaded immunogenic cell death (ICD)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) amplification circuit. Hollow mesoporous Prussian blue (HMPB) nanozymes coloaded with hydroxyurea (HU) and thapsigargin (TG) are embedded within a poly(γ-glutamic acid) microneedle matrix, allowing localized and minimally invasive intratumoral delivery. Upon near-infrared irradiation, the nanozymes simultaneously induce mild hyperthermia and catalyze endogenous hydrogen peroxide into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, suppressing heat shock protein-mediated thermotolerance and triggering robust ICD. HU inhibits DNA replication and repair, promoting cytosolic double-stranded DNA accumulation and activation of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway, while TG induces endoplasmic reticulum Ca<sup>2+</sup> depletion to relieve stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1)-mediated inhibition of STING trafficking, thereby amplifying type I interferon signaling. This trimodal self-amplifying immune cascade enhances tumor immunogenicity, remodels the tumor immune microenvironment, and elicits potent local and systemic T cell-mediated antitumor responses. Collectively, this work establishes a nanozyme-microneedle-integrated strategy for the precise orchestration of innate and adaptive antitumor immunity.

ACS NanoVol. 20(10)
Institute of Biomedical Science (GB), Southwest Jiaotong University (CN)
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 36%
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
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