A ferroptosis-based intelligent nanoplatform with chemo-sonodynamic therapy carrying oxygen for improving tumor suppression and antitumor immunity

Ferroptosis and sonodynamic therapy (SDT) have both been recognized as powerful weapons in cancer treatment, especially in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) recently. However, the lack of effective sono-sensitizer and ferroptosis regulator limited their usage. In order to overcome the limitation, a novel nanoplatform of DTX-CS/ART/PFCA@RGD (cRCAPD) was fabricated based on SDT and ferroptosis. Nanoparticles, under the action of c(RGDfk) cyclic peptides and their skeleton chondroitin sulfate (CS), could specifically target αvβ3 and CD44 receptors, respectively, thereby targeting tumor sites. Meanwhile, the peroxy-bridge structure of ART disrupted the intracellular iron homeostasis while generating highly toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) under the SDT. Docetaxel (DTX) in nanoparticles led to the excellent apoptosis of A549 cells. Oxygen carried by PFCA alleviated the tumor hypoxic microenvironment, downregulated HIF-1α, and provided substrates for SDT. Further, the nanoparticles showed a strong immunogenic cell death (ICD) effect, modulating the number of T cells and dendritic cells in tumor-bearing mice. In summary, the proposed therapeutic strategy based on SDT and ferroptosis holds promising potential for synergistic treatment of lung cancer in future clinical applications.