To fulfil the demands of rapid proliferation, tumour cells undergo significant metabolic alterations. Suppression of hyperactivated metabolism has been proven to counteract tumour growth. However, whether the reactivation of downregulated metabolic pathways has therapeutic effects remains unexplored. Here we report a nutrient-based metabolic reactivation strategy for effective melanoma treatment. l-Tyrosine–oleylamine nanomicelles (MTyr–OANPs) were constructed for targeted supplementation of tyrosine to reactivate melanogenesis in melanoma cells. We found that reactivation of melanogenesis using MTyr–OANPs significantly impeded the proliferation of melanoma cells, primarily through the inhibition of glycolysis. Furthermore, leveraging melanin as a natural photothermal reagent for photothermal therapy, we demonstrated the complete eradication of tumours in B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice through treatment with MTyr–OANPs and photothermal therapy. Our strategy for metabolism activation-based tumour treatment suggests specific nutrients as potent activators of metabolic pathways.

为了满足快速增殖的需求，肿瘤细胞经历显着的代谢改变。抑制过度活跃的代谢已被证明可以抑制肿瘤生长。然而，下调的代谢途径的重新激活是否具有治疗作用仍有待探索。在这里，我们报告了一种基于营养的代谢再激活策略，用于有效的黑色素瘤治疗。 L-酪氨酸-油胺纳米胶束（MTyr-OANP）的构建用于靶向补充酪氨酸以重新激活黑色素瘤细胞中的黑色素生成。我们发现，使用 MTyr-OANP 重新激活黑色素生成可显着阻碍黑色素瘤细胞的增殖，这主要是通过抑制糖酵解来实现的。此外，利用黑色素作为光热疗法的天然光热试剂，我们证明通过 MTyr-OANP 治疗和光热疗法可以完全根除携带黑色素瘤的 B16F10 小鼠中的肿瘤。我们基于代谢激活的肿瘤治疗策略建议将特定营养素作为代谢途径的有效激活剂。