Glutathione‐Scavenging Celastrol‐Cu Nanoparticles Induce Self‐Amplified Cuproptosis for Augmented Cancer Immunotherapy

Abstract

AbstractCuproptosis is a novel copper‐dependent programmed cell death. The efficacy of cuproptosis is highly dependent on intracellular copper accumulation and counteracted by a high level of glutathione (GSH) in tumor cells. Here, this work develops a self‐amplified cuproptosis nanoparticles (Cel‐Cu NP) using celastrol (Cel), a natural product isolated from medical plant. In Cel‐Cu NP, Cel serves as a versatile copper ionophore, exhibiting an ideal coordination capacity toward copper ions without compromising the cuproptosis induction. Notably, Cel can simultaneously scavenge GSH content to amplify cuproptosis. Moreover, this self‐amplified cuproptosis further activates immunogenic cell death (ICD) to elicit robust immune response. Combining with immune checkpoint blockade, Cel‐Cu NP effectively eradicates metastatic tumors in a mouse lung metastasis model. This study provides an efficient nanomedicine by inducing self‐amplified cuproptosis for robust immunotherapy.