Construction of drug-free sodium bicarbonate nanoparticles with high water-tolerance for gas therapy to selectively induce non-apoptotic death of cancer cells

Developing drug-free nanotherapeutics is extremely appealing provided they could achieve effective therapeutic performances. This study proposes a sodium bicarbonate-dependent gas therapy modality targeting fragile lysosomes of cancer cells through carbon dioxide-induced lysosomal rupture. Interestingly, we reveal that this gas therapy induces cell death through the combination of necrosis, pyroptosis and ferroptosis, rather than the conventional apoptosis pathway. Notably, the high water-solubility of sodium bicarbonate presents a significant challenge in engineering its nanotherapeutics that require long-term water-tolerance for its intravenous delivery. To address this issue, an EPDPPP approach is here developed under aqueous conditions. Without any anticancer drugs, the sodium bicarbonate nanoparticles alone can selectively kill cancer cells with high specificity. Thanks to the high water tolerance, the sodium bicarbonate nanoparticles coated with cancer cell membranes have shown favorable performance in targeting and inhibiting tumors after intravenous administration. This water-tolerant sodium bicarbonate nanoplatform is expected to have potential applications in various medical fields, including the targeted gas therapy. Additionally, this study may suggest a viable direction for developing water-tolerant nanoparticles derived from water-soluble inorganic salts.