Conductive coordination nanozyme prodrugs precisely trigger pyroptosis, cuproptosis and ferroptosis for in situ cancer vaccination

Pyroptosis, which rapidly releases cellular contents through pyroptotic pores, is an ideal method for inducing in situ cancer vaccines, evoking systemic antitumor immunity, and suppressing primary and metastatic tumors. However, the clinical translation of pyroptosis-based therapy is hindered by the inability to spatially control the activation of inert precursors and the inefficient catalytic activity of nanozymes, which often fail to generate sufficient reactive oxygen species for effective treatment. To address this, we designed a conductive coordination nanozyme prodrug, Cu-DHN. Its π-conjugated polyphenol backbone functions as an intrinsic "electron highway," enabling rapid electron shuttling to utilize the entire nanoparticle volume for catalysis, thereby achieving exceptional peroxidase-like activity. Upon systemic administration, Cu-DHN remains inert in circulation but is precisely activated within the tumor microenvironment by a tandem GSH-depletion and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-responsive logic gate. This triggers a self-cascade reaction that locally transforms the coordinated prodrug into juglone, which concurrently reverses gasdermin D epigenetic silencing and activates the NLRP3 inflammasome for caspase-1-mediated cleavage. This single-agent, tumor-specific initiation of pyroptosis, augmented by concomitant cuproptosis, elicits potent immunogenic cell death and robust systemic antitumor immunity, effectively suppressing primary and metastatic tumors while exhibiting a pristine safety profile. Our work establishes electron-shuttling coordination polymers as a versatile platform for developing safe and potent catalytic immunotherapies.

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Publication Details

Journal
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
Published
2026-03-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-026-02607-6
Primary Topic
Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Conductive coordination nanozyme prodrugs precisely trigger pyroptosis, cuproptosis and ferroptosis for in situ cancer vaccination

Dan Deng, Hao Zhao, Yuqiao Wang, Chunying Chen et al.
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis
article

Conductive coordination nanozyme prodrugs precisely trigger pyroptosis, cuproptosis and ferroptosis for in situ cancer vaccination

Dan Deng, Hao Zhao, Yuqiao Wang, Chunying Chen, Ke Sun, Lan Li, Lin Bao, Guanyu Liu, Tao Liu, Wei Xu
article en

Abstract

Pyroptosis, which rapidly releases cellular contents through pyroptotic pores, is an ideal method for inducing in situ cancer vaccines, evoking systemic antitumor immunity, and suppressing primary and metastatic tumors. However, the clinical translation of pyroptosis-based therapy is hindered by the inability to spatially control the activation of inert precursors and the inefficient catalytic activity of nanozymes, which often fail to generate sufficient reactive oxygen species for effective treatment. To address this, we designed a conductive coordination nanozyme prodrug, Cu-DHN. Its π-conjugated polyphenol backbone functions as an intrinsic "electron highway," enabling rapid electron shuttling to utilize the entire nanoparticle volume for catalysis, thereby achieving exceptional peroxidase-like activity. Upon systemic administration, Cu-DHN remains inert in circulation but is precisely activated within the tumor microenvironment by a tandem GSH-depletion and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-responsive logic gate. This triggers a self-cascade reaction that locally transforms the coordinated prodrug into juglone, which concurrently reverses gasdermin D epigenetic silencing and activates the NLRP3 inflammasome for caspase-1-mediated cleavage. This single-agent, tumor-specific initiation of pyroptosis, augmented by concomitant cuproptosis, elicits potent immunogenic cell death and robust systemic antitumor immunity, effectively suppressing primary and metastatic tumors while exhibiting a pristine safety profile. Our work establishes electron-shuttling coordination polymers as a versatile platform for developing safe and potent catalytic immunotherapies.

Signal Transduction and Targeted TherapyVol. 11(1)
Changsha Medical University (CN), Dalian Medical University (CN), Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CN), Rome International Center for Materials Science (IT), Institute of High Energy Physics (CN), National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (CN), Chongqing Medical University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 22%
Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis
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