Metal-Organic-framework-derived Carbon Nanostructure Augmented Sonodynamic Cancer Therapy

Sonodynamic therapy(SDT)can overcome the critical issue of the depth-penetration barrier of photo-triggered therapeutic modalities.However,the discovery of sonosensitizers with high sonosensitization efficacy and good stability is still a significant challenge.In this study,we have for the first time discovered that metal-organic-framework(MOF)-derived carbon nanostructure that contains porphyrin-like metal centers(PMCS)can be used as a highly efficient inorganic sonosensitizer for SDT.We first discovered through experiments and used density functional theory(DFT)calculations to prove that the highly reactive oxygen species(ROS)production efficiency of PMCS is highly correlated with the contained porphyrin-like structure.Moreover,the high specific surface area and porous structure of PMCS make it carry a large number of gas cores,enhancing the cavitation effect.In addition,a high-speed camera also first captures the cavitation process in the presence of PMCS,including the visualized formation of the cavitation bubbles and microjets.In vivo experiments have shown that PMCS has good biocompatibility and high tumor inhibition efficiency(85%).We believe that this research is expected to play an important role in further exploring the SDT mechanism associated with MOF-derived carbon nanostructures and designing inorganic sonosensitizers with high ROS yield and excellent stability.