Oxygen consumption but hypoxic
tumor environment has been considered as the major obstacle in
photodynamic therapy. Although
oxygen-supplied strategies have been reported extensively, they still suffer from the complicated system and unsatisfied
PDT efficiency. Herein, one-component layered
nickel silicate nanoplatforms (LNS NPs) are successfully synthesized using natural
vermiculite as the
silica source, which can simultaneously supply
oxygen (O2) and generate
superoxide radicals (O2-•) under near-infrared irradiation. The appropriate electron band structure endows LNS NPs with attractive optical properties, where the bandgap edges determine the performance of redox activity and spectral response characteristic. Evidenced by both in vitro and in vivo investigations, LNS NPs can generate sufficient
superoxide radicals under 660 nm
laser irradiation to induce
tumor cell apoptosis even in a severe hypoxic environment, which benefits from self-supplied
oxygen. Besides, the photoacoustic oxy-hem imaging and histologic assay further demonstrated that the generated
oxygen can relieve the inherent intratumoral
hypoxia. Therefore, LNS NPs not only serve as
superoxide radical generator but also produce
oxygen to modulate
hypoxia, suggesting that it can be used for
superoxide radical-mediated
photodynamic therapy with enhanced antitumor effect.