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Biochemical Structure Evolved Pyridine-Activated Carbon Dots Co-Assembly as Precision Antitumor Nanozyme
Lingyun Li1, Xue Wu1, Zhenjian Li1
1Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, Joint Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR, P. R. China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|June 11, 2026
Summary
This study introduces a novel pyridine-activated carbon dot nanozyme (N-CDs@KK) for targeted tumor therapy. This nanozyme enhances catalytic activity and tumor specificity, combining reactive oxygen species generation with immune checkpoint inhibition for effective antitumor treatment.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Cancer Therapy
Background:
- Nanozymes offer potential for tumor catalytic therapy due to stable activity and biocompatibility.
- Clinical translation of nanozymes is limited by suboptimal structure evolution strategies and lack of tumor specificity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer a potent tumor-targeted nanozyme using pyridine-activated donor-acceptor (D-A)-typed carbon dots (N-CDs) co-assembled with a PD-L1 targeting peptide (KK).
- To enhance nanozyme biochemical activity and tumor specificity for improved cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Engineered N-CDs by integrating electron-withdrawing pyridine units into amino-rich conjugated sp2-domains for enhanced charge transfer.
- Co-assembled N-CDs with KK peptide to create N-CDs@KK for targeted delivery.
- Investigated catalytic activities (peroxidase and oxidase-like) and bio-regulatory functions (PI3K/AKT pathway suppression).
Main Results:
- The D-A-typed N-CDs exhibited enhanced peroxidase (POD) and oxidase (OXD)-like catalytic activities.
- The pyridine-activated nanostructure suppressed the PI3K/AKT antioxidant stress pathway, amplifying ROS-mediated tumor killing.
- N-CDs@KK demonstrated enhanced tumor targeting and cellular internalization.
- N-CDs@KK combined ROS-mediated immunogenic cell death (ICD) and PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI).
Conclusions:
- N-CDs@KK is an efficient tumor-targeted nanoplatform for combined nanozyme-catalytic and immunotherapeutic antitumor therapy.
- This development establishes a paradigm for rational design of high-performance nanozymes for precision cancer therapy.
