Amorphous A-BiOI@PEG Nanoenzyme Targets Imaging and Synergistic Phototherapy in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

The integration of medical nanomaterials into cancer diagnosis and treatment presents a multifaceted challenge, given the simultaneous necessity of achieving high targeting and excellent diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy. Herein, a PEGylated amorphous BiOI (a-BiOI@PEG) nanoenzyme is developed, whose abundant unsaturated bonds, iodine-containing delivery systems, and reduced bandgap facilitate active/passive uptake by thyroid cancer cells and response to second near-infrared (NIR-II), respectively. This allows for accurate DTC-specific targeting of tumor cells for ultrasound and computer tomography (CT) imaging and enhances synergistic phototherapy. Consequently, the results show that a-BiOI@PEG outperforms the common CT contrast agent iohexol and B-mode ultrasonography. This process is followed by the generation of remarkable ROS and an increase in temperatures above 48 ℃ in 10 min under 1064 nm NIR, inducing impressive immunogenic cell death and exerting long-term anti-tumor effects at primary and metastatic sites to prevent cancer metastasis, while normal cells are rarely killed. This study reveals the intricate relationship between amorphous structures and diagnostic integration, laying the foundation for the design of highly targeted and efficient amorphous nanoenzymes that simultaneously target thyroid tumors.