biostudies-literatureUnknown14(1)Zhao SBreast cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies and poses a severe health risk to women. In recent years, ferroptosis therapy has been considered a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer by promoting intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lipid peroxidation (LPO) accumulation. However, insufficient intracellular ROS levels and suboptimal drug accumulation within breast cancer lesions hinder the efficacy of ferroptosis as a single oncological treatment modality. In this study, we developed a self-targeting biomineralized apoferritin-based nanovector, encapsulating the ferroptosis inducer dihydroartemisinin (DHA), to create a synergistic antitumor nano-platform (Ca/DHA@AFn) capable of achieving dual-mode calcicoptosis and ferroptosis therapy. Scientific reports29402https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11599557biostudies-literatureBiomineralized apoferritin nanoparticles delivering dihydroartemisinin and calcium for synergistic breast cancer therapy.PMC11599557Li YZhao SLiu PfalseBiomineralized apoferritin nanoparticles delivering dihydroartemisinin and calcium for synergistic breast cancer therapy.Breast cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies and poses a severe health risk to women. In recent years, ferroptosis therapy has been considered a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer by promoting intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lipid peroxidation (LPO) accumulation. However, insufficient intracellular ROS levels and suboptimal drug accumulation within breast cancer lesions hinder the efficacy of ferroptosis as a single oncological treatment modality. In this study, we developed a self-targeting biomineralized apoferritin-based nanovector, encapsulating the ferroptosis inducer dihydroartemisinin (DHA), to create a synergistic antitumor nano-platform (Ca/DHA@AFn) capable of achieving dual-mode calcicoptosis and ferroptosis therapy. 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Nov2025-04-19T17:36:54.021Z2025-04-19T17:36:54.021ZS-EPMC115995573959273610.1038/s41598-024-80735-1