A self-powered electromodulative system based on an abiotic-biotic hybrid for cancer catalytic therapy

Cancer catalytic therapy leveraging biocompatible nanocatalysts represents an emerging approach for cancer treatment. However, existing nanocatalysts often face issues such as suboptimal catalytic efficiency and limited therapeutic efficacy. Here, we present a self-powered electromodulative system designed for augmenting cancer catalytic therapy through the integration of an abiotic-biotic hybrid with a wearable self-powered triboelectric device. We discover that the self-powered electrostimulation can remarkably enhance the peroxidase—and glutathione oxidase—like activities of the engineered abiotic-biotic hybrid MR-1@Pd. The catalytic enhancement is achieved through the acceleration of electron transfer in MR-1@Pd during the catalysis and electrogenetic modulation of the bacteria. Upon intravenous injection into breast cancer-bearing mice, the MR-1@Pd hybrid can target hypoxic tumor tissue and give rise to oxidative damage of the tumor cells under the self-powered electrostimulation, realizing high therapeutic efficacy without causing off-target damage. It opens up an avenue for the development of electromodulation for catalytic therapy.