Single nanosheet can sustainably generate oxygen and inhibit respiration simultaneously in cancer cells

In a tumor, the abnormal cancer cell proliferation results in an insufficient O₂ supply, and meanwhile cancer cells consume O₂ very fast. The imbalance between a low oxygen supply and overwhelming oxygen consumption results in a low oxygen concentration in solid tumors. Therefore, in order to relieve hypoxia in tumors, it is necessary to not only sustainably generate O₂, but also inhibit mitochondrial respiration simultaneously. Here, we found that a single Ti₂C(OH)₂ nanomaterial not only can sustainably generate O₂ but also simultaneously highly inhibits mitochondrial respiration via binding phosphorylation proteins onto the surface in cancer cells. Ce6 was linked onto Ti₂C(OH)₂, forming Ti₂C(OH)₂-Ce6. Ti₂C(OH)₂-Ce6 could highly relieve hypoxia in tumors via the combination of sustainable O₂ generation and respiration inhibition, produce enough ¹O₂ to kill cancer cells via PDT, and also effectively convert the absorbed light energy into thermal energy to kill cancer cell via PTT, thereby highly enhancing the cancer therapy.