A novel dual MoS ₂/FeGA quantum dots endowed injectable hydrogel for efficient photothermal and boosting chemodynamic therapy

Due to its responsiveness to the tumour microenvironment (TME), chemodynamic therapy (CDT) based on the Fenton reaction to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) to destroy tumor has drawn more interest. However, the Fenton’s reaction potential for therapeutic use is constrained by its modest efficacy. Here, we develop a novel injectable hydrogel system (FMH) on the basis of FeGA/MoS ₂ dual quantum dots (QDs), which uses near-infrared (NIR) laser in order to trigger the synergistic catalysis and photothermal effect of FeGA/MoS ₂ for improving the efficiency of the Fenton reaction. Mo ⁴⁺ in MoS ₂ QDs can accelerate the conversion of Fe ³⁺ to Fe ²⁺, thereby promoting the efficiency of Fenton reaction, and benefiting from the synergistically enhanced CDT/PTT, FMH combined with NIR has achieved good anti-tumour effects in vitro and in vivo experiments. Furthermore, the quantum dots are easily metabolized after treatment because of their ultrasmall size, without causing any side effects. This is the first report to study the co-catalytic effect of MoS ₂ and Fe ³⁺ at the quantum dot level, as well as obtain a good PTT/CDT synergy, which have implications for future anticancer research.