Ultrasound activated herbal bio-heterojunctions for self-catalytic regulation and bacterial cuproptosis-like death in the treatment of implant infection

作者：Yue Yan, Shuoyuan Li, Qiang Su, Xufeng Wan, Qiaochu Li, Zhuang Zhang, Hong Xu, Fuyuan Zheng, Yangming Zhang, Le Tong, Jian Cao, Long Zhao, X. Chen, Qi Li, Yi Arial Zeng, Haoyang Wang, Yi Deng, Zongke Zhou, Duan Wang · 发表于：Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41392-025-02388-4 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Bone Tissue Engineering Materials、Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics、Graphene and Nanomaterials Applications

Abstract Conventional antibiotic strategies often fail to consistently suppress escaping planktonic bacteria and even induce antibiotic resistance, allowing implant-associated infections (IAIs) to persist. In this study, we demonstrated an antibiotic-free coating engineered with an herbal bioheterojunction featuring a shell-in-shell structure where Cu 2 O forms the core, strontium (Sr) is loaded in the inner shell, and curcumin (Cur) is nucleated in situ at the outer heterointerface (Cu 2 O-Sr/Cur). Ultrasound-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by the outer heterostructure (Cu 2 O/Cur), coupled with Cu(I)-induced cuproptosis-like bacterial death, achieved antibacterial rates of 99.56% against S. aureus and 99.43% against E. coli . When ultrasonication ceases, the released Cu(I) undergoes disproportionation reactions to form Cu(II), which can chelate with Cur to form Cu-Cur metal complexes. These complexes exhibit enhanced antioxidative properties through self-catalytic regulation, the scavenging of ROS, and the activation of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage phenotype. Moreover, strontium release from the inner shell simultaneously suppressed osteoclast activity and promoted osteogenesis, resulting in trabecular number and thickness increases of 129.03% and 56.71%, respectively, compared with those in control group. Therefore, our work establishes a sequential treatment strategy for the antibacterial properties and osteointegration ability of IAIs.