Polypyrrole Nanoenzymes as Tumor Microenvironment Modulators to Reprogram Macrophage and Potentiate Immunotherapy

Abstract

Abstract Nanozyme‐based tumor catalytic therapy has attracted widespread attention in recent years, but its therapeutic outcome is drastically diminished by species of nanozyme, concentration of substrate, pH value, and reaction temperature, etc. Herein, a novel Cu‐doped polypyrrole nanozyme (CuP) with trienzyme‐like activities, including catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and peroxidase (POD), is first proposed by a straightforward one‐step procedure, which can specifically promote O2 and ·OH elevation but glutathione (GSH) reduction in tumor microenvironment (TME), causing irreversible oxidative stress damage to tumor cells and reversing the redox balance. The PEGylated CuP nanozyme (CuPP) has been demonstrated to efficiently reverse immunosuppressive TME by overcoming tumor hypoxia and re‐educating macrophage from pro‐tumoral M2 to anti‐tumoral M1 phenotype. More importantly, CuPP exhibits hyperthermia‐enhanced enzyme‐mimic catalytic and immunoregulatory activities, which results in intense immune responses and almost complete tumor inhibition by further combining with αPD‐L1. This work opens intriguing perspectives not only in enzyme‐catalytic nanomedicine but also in macrophage‐based tumor immunotherapy.

Keywords

• enzyme‐like activities
• immunotherapy
• macrophage reprogramming
• nanoenzymes
• NIR I/II biowindow