Abstract Given that the outcome of clinical radiotherapy (RT) is closely related to the radiolysis products from the interactions between the radiation and intracellular water, an appropriate catalyst to promote radiolysis may improve the therapeutic efficacy. However, catalysis-based radiosensitization strategy remains under investigated. Herein, we propose a catalytic RT concept and synthesize Janus-like Au-Fe2C nanoparticles (AFCNPs) as the catalytic radiosensitizer to improve the conversion efficiency of free radicals from the water molecules, resulting in a nearly five-fold increase in hydroxyl radicals ( OH) with comparison to pure Au nanoparticles under the clinical radiation dose. The theoretical simulation reveals that the catalytic activity of AFCNPs derived from the increase in the electron concentration on the surface of Au, as a result of the electron transfer from the Fe2C moiety with lower work function to the Au moiety with higher work function. As a novel radiosensitization strategy, catalytic RT has shown promising potentials warranting further exploration.

中文翻译：

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用于癌症放射治疗的结构导向催化放射增敏

摘要 鉴于临床放射治疗（RT）的结果与放射线与细胞内水相互作用产生的放射分解产物密切相关，适当的促进放射分解的催化剂可能会提高治疗效果。然而，基于催化的放射增敏策略仍在研究中。在此，我们提出了催化 RT 概念并合成类 Janus 的 Au-Fe2C 纳米粒子（AFCNPs）作为催化放射增敏剂，以提高水分子中自由基的转化效率，导致羟基自由基（OH ) 与临床辐射剂量下的纯金纳米粒子相比。理论模拟表明，AFCNPs 的催化活性源于 Au 表面电子浓度的增加，由于电子从具有较低功函数的 Fe2C 部分转移到具有较高功函数的 Au 部分。作为一种新的放射增敏策略，催化放疗已显示出值得进一步探索的潜力。