Vitamin C-functionalized copper nanozymes for treating drug-resistant intracellular infections and hyperinflammation.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial infections, particularly drug-resistant intracellular infections, remain a major clinical challenge due to antibiotic resistance and immune evasion. Here, we report a vitamin C-functionalized copper-based nanozymes (CVs) as multifunctional therapeutic agents capable of simultaneously eradicating intracellular bacteria and mitigating hyperinflammation. Benefiting from excellent biocompatibility and acid-responsive activity, CVs exhibit potent bactericidal, reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging, and immunomodulatory functions. Mechanistically, CVs enter bacterial cytoplasm via copper transporters, induce intracellular copper overload, disrupt the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and promote lipid peroxides accumulation, thereby triggering a cuproptosis-like bacterial death pathw

SUBMITTER: Lu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12512988 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature