CRISPR/Cas9-Based Vanadium MXene-Free Radical Spatiotemporally Controlled Nanoreactor for Photothermal-Induced Multi-Effect Synergistic Antitumor Therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT), a non-invasive tumor treatment, shows promise but is limited in solid tumors by restricted tissue penetration, thermotolerance, anti-apoptotic and immunosuppressive effects. In this study, tumor microenvironment-responsive nanoplatform VARH was constructed based on MXene. Under NIR-II laser irradiation, VARH achieves a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 44.21%. Loaded 2,2'-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane] dihydrochloride decomposes at high temperatures to generate alkyl radicals, synergizing with hydroxyl radicals from V4+-catalyzed endogenous H2O2 decomposition, enabling chemodynamic therapy (CDT) and thermal dynamic therapy to enhance tumor cell oxidative damage. Triggered by high glutathione, VARH releases ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes to knockout heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), attenuating cellular heat resistance and promoting apoptosis. It also enhances T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity and, with free radicals, promotes tumor cell immunogenic cell death (ICD), achieving immunotherapeutic multi-effect synergy. Integrating nanotechnology with precise gene editing, this study develops a novel multimodal synergistic therapy system, providing new insights for multi-modal treatment R&D and advancing PTT and free radical-based cancer therapies.