Cancer is still one of the main causes of death in the world. The development of new therapeutic drugs with selective anti-tumor effects has important scientific research significance and clinical value. Recently, researcher Yu Xuefeng from our hospital led the research team to make new progress in the development of natural bioactive nano-chemotherapeutics. Related work is "Bioactive phospho-therapy with black phosphorus for in vivo tumor suppression." Published in the authoritative journal Theranostics in the field of biomedicine (impact factor 8.063, DOI: 10.7150/thno.43092). Yu Xuefeng is the corresponding author.

As a new type of two-dimensional material, black phosphorous (black phosphorene) has received extensive attention in the field of biomedicine due to its good biological activity and superior optical properties. Previously, Yu Xuefeng’s research group published an article in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition revealing the unique biological activity of black phosphorus: black phosphorus is easily taken up by cancer cells through endocytosis, and quickly degrades to produce a large number of phosphate ions. This process can It leads to changes in the internal environment of cancer cells, thereby inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells and killing cancer cells, while maintaining high biocompatibility for normal cells (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2019, 131, 779-784). However, considering the complexity of the biological internal physiological environment, the in vivo anti-tumor biological activity of black phosphorus is still worthy of in-depth study.



Figure 1. The therapeutic effect of black phosphorus nanosheets on orthotopic liver tumors

A. Schematic diagram B. Liver tumor weight in different groups after treatment C. Survival curve

In this study, the research team constructed an orthotopic liver cancer mouse model and an acute myeloid leukemia mouse model, and systematically studied the anti-tumor activity of black phosphorus in vivo. After intravenous injection, black phosphorus can be efficiently and passively targeted to the liver tumor site. It can effectively inhibit the growth of liver tumors by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and autophagy inhibition. After treatment, the average survival time of mice can be extended by 2-3 months, and the treatment effect is better than the first-line chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) for liver cancer. In addition, black phosphorus can also effectively inhibit the growth of leukemia tumors and prolong the survival time of diseased mice. This study proves the application potential of black phosphorus as a bioactive nanomaterial in cancer treatment, and also provides ideas for the development of inorganic active nanomedicine.