Engineering BSA-CAT-Ir nanoparticles for enhanced sonodynamic therapy via alleviating tumor hypoxia

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has received extensive attention in tumor treatment due to its unique advantages. However, the hypoxic tumor microenvironment substantially restricts the sonodynamic effect. In this work, BSA-CAT-Ir nanoparticles were successfully developed to overcome the limitations of SDT in solid hypoxic tumors. The nanoparticles can alleviate tumor hypoxia by catalyzing the decomposition of overexpressed hydrogen peroxide in tumors to generate oxygen, thereby enhancing the efficacy of SDT. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that BSA-CAT-Ir nanoparticles significantly inhibited tumor growth under ultrasound, providing an effective strategy for tumor hypoxia modulation and SDT resistance suppression.