Glucose Oxidase-Instructed Multimodal Synergistic Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Over the past 3 years, glucose oxidase (GOx) has aroused great research interest in the context of cancer treatment due to its inherent biocompatibility and biodegradability, and its unique catalytic properties against β-d-glucose. GOx can effectively catalyze the oxidation of glucose into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. This process depletes oxygen levels, resulting in elevated acidity, hypoxia, and oxidative stress in the tumor microenvironment. All of these changes can be readily harnessed to develop a multimodal synergistic cancer therapy by combining GOx with other therapeutic approaches. Herein, the representative studies of GOx-instructed multimodal synergistic cancer therapy are introduced, and their synergistic mechanisms are discussed systematically. The current challenges and future prospects to advance the development of GOx-based nanomedicines in this cutting-edge research area are highlighted.

Keywords: cancer treatment; glucose oxidase; starvation therapy; synergistic therapy.