Overcoming Photothermal Resistance of Gastric Cancer by Bionic 2D Iron-Based Nanoplatforms with Precise CRISPR/Cas9 Delivery

The development of new CRISPR/Cas9 delivery systems with a synergistic therapeutic mode can provide a new perspective for efficient tumor treatment. In this work, we developed a bionic 2D FeS nanoplatform with high CRISPR/Cas9 loading (FCRM), highlighting the synergy of CRISPR/Cas9 and Ferroptosis in regulating heat shock proteins (HSPs) for enhanced tumor photothermal therapy (PTT). Due to the ultrathin structure and pH-response of FeS nanosheets, FCRM can quickly decompose in a tumor microenvironment and effectively release CRISPR/Cas9 and Fe²⁺, which can be further enhanced by a photothermal process. CRISPR/Cas9 can accurately downregulate the level of intracellular antiapoptosis protein Survivin. Fe²⁺ can induce lipid peroxidation and Ferroptosis of tumor cells. Ferroptosis and the regulation of Survivin protein can synergistically downregulate the expression of HSPs, thereby reducing the photothermal resistance of tumor cells in PTT. Additionally, FCRM caused significant tumor magnetic resonance contrast enhancement, which aided in the accurate diagnosis of tumors. Therefore, FCRM has great potential in achieving targeted magnetic resonance imaging and dual regulation of HSPs for ferroptosis-gene enhanced tumor PTT.

CRISPR/Cas9; MRI; dual regulation; iron-based nanoplatforms; photothermal resistance.