A self-assembled three-dimensional hierarchical nanoflower: an efficient enzyme-mimetic material for cancer cell detection that improves ROS generation for therapy

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) nanomaterials with high functional properties are emerging as the most promising artificial enzymes for overcoming the significant disadvantages of natural enzymes. Anticancer therapy using 3D-enzyme mimetic materials has emerged as an essential development for catalyzing cancer cell destruction. We report for the first time a novel 3D-based enzyme mimetic material, CaMoO₄/MoS₂/CuS nanoflower (CMC NF), that exhibits a large specific surface area, uniform flower-like structure, excellent biocompatibility, and high porosity, making it a suitable candidate for cancer detection and therapy. Additionally, CMC NFs were conjugated with folic acid (FA) to selectively target cancer cells, resulting in FA–CMC NFs explicitly binding to overexpressed folate receptor alpha (FRα) in MDA-MB-231 cells. Based on the peroxidase activity, the FA–CMC NFs are an effective nanoprobe for the selective detection of MDA-MB-231 cells over a wide detection range (50 to 5.5 × 10⁴ cells per mL) with a low limit of detection (LOD) value of 10 cells per mL. In addition to their cancer detection capability, the FA–CMC NFs also effectively generated ˙OH radicals in a concentration-dependent manner to treat cancer cells. Under light conditions, the FA–CMC NFs with H₂O₂ solution showed efficient degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye, and the solution color appeared to fade within 15 min, indicating that they generated ˙OH radicals, which can efficiently kill cancer cells. Thus, the superior functionality of FA–CMC NFs offers cost-effective, facile, and reliable cancer cell detection, providing a new treatment option for cancer treatment and diagnosis.