PROTAC‐Armed Electron Pump Triggers Disulfidptosis and Cuproptosis for Lung Cancer Therapy

ABSTRACT As emerging tumor therapies, cuproptosis and disulfidptosis exhibit unique potentials. However, high‐level glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment neutralizes cuproptosis‐essential copper ions, while pentose phosphate pathway‐mediated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) regeneration alleviates disulfidptosis‐required disulfide bonds accumulation, substantially restricting their efficacy. Synergistically inducing these two death mechanisms faces challenges, including antioxidant defense systems, compensatory effects between metabolic pathways, and precise regulation difficulties. Since NADPH deficiency inhibits GSH synthesis, targeting the “glucose metabolism‐NADPH‐GSH” axis may provide a key strategy for synergistically enhancing the cuproptosis and disulfidoptosis effects. Herein, a biomimetic nanosystem LCM@CM was constructed, consisting of a proteolysis‐targeting chimera (PROTAC)‐armed lanthanum single‐atom‐doped multivalent copper heterojunction encapsulated within A549 cell membranes. The heterojunction acts as an “electron pump,” catalyzing the consumption of glucose, GSH, and NADPH while generating O 2 and releasing copper ions, effectively triggering cuproptosis and disulfidptosis. Meanwhile, PROTAC MZ1 can precisely inhibit the BRD4‐c‐MYC‐G6PD signaling pathway, systematically depleting NADPH and GSH from their metabolic sources to directly induce disulfidptosis and enhance the cuproptosis. Additionally, the homologous membrane coating enhances tumor‐specific targeting, and improves nanosystem enrichment in the tumor. By ingeniously integrating chemical catalysis and biological targeting, a strategy using PROTAC and nanoheterojunction to synergistically trigger cuproptosis and disulfidptosis is innovatively proposed, offering novel insights for lung cancer therapy.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-06-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.76729
Primary Topic
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

PROTAC‐Armed Electron Pump Triggers Disulfidptosis and Cuproptosis for Lung Cancer Therapy

Shuo Shi, Wenjun Zhang, Juan Ruan, Zhao Yang et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
article

PROTAC‐Armed Electron Pump Triggers Disulfidptosis and Cuproptosis for Lung Cancer Therapy

Shuo Shi, Wenjun Zhang, Juan Ruan, Zhao Yang, Yu Wang, Min Zhang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT As emerging tumor therapies, cuproptosis and disulfidptosis exhibit unique potentials. However, high‐level glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment neutralizes cuproptosis‐essential copper ions, while pentose phosphate pathway‐mediated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) regeneration alleviates disulfidptosis‐required disulfide bonds accumulation, substantially restricting their efficacy. Synergistically inducing these two death mechanisms faces challenges, including antioxidant defense systems, compensatory effects between metabolic pathways, and precise regulation difficulties. Since NADPH deficiency inhibits GSH synthesis, targeting the “glucose metabolism‐NADPH‐GSH” axis may provide a key strategy for synergistically enhancing the cuproptosis and disulfidoptosis effects. Herein, a biomimetic nanosystem LCM@CM was constructed, consisting of a proteolysis‐targeting chimera (PROTAC)‐armed lanthanum single‐atom‐doped multivalent copper heterojunction encapsulated within A549 cell membranes. The heterojunction acts as an “electron pump,” catalyzing the consumption of glucose, GSH, and NADPH while generating O 2 and releasing copper ions, effectively triggering cuproptosis and disulfidptosis. Meanwhile, PROTAC MZ1 can precisely inhibit the BRD4‐c‐MYC‐G6PD signaling pathway, systematically depleting NADPH and GSH from their metabolic sources to directly induce disulfidptosis and enhance the cuproptosis. Additionally, the homologous membrane coating enhances tumor‐specific targeting, and improves nanosystem enrichment in the tumor. By ingeniously integrating chemical catalysis and biological targeting, a strategy using PROTAC and nanoheterojunction to synergistically trigger cuproptosis and disulfidptosis is innovatively proposed, offering novel insights for lung cancer therapy.

Advanced Functional Materials
Tongji University (CN), Tongji Hospital (CN)
Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
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