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Page 26 of 33 Mao et al. Chem Synth 2023;3:26 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cs.2022.41

The toxicity and safety of nano-copper chalcogenide compounds are of primary concern, which is an
important issue for their biological applications. Unfortunately, few systematic studies have investigated the
toxicity and biological results caused by recycling, biodistribution, degradation, and metabolism of Cu
sulfide NCs after drug administration. The majority of studies have been devoted to their efforts on the
viability of various cell species. We sum up with original expectations and propose future directions for the
clinical application of these novel schemes for synergistic therapy.

Advanced imaging modalities and tumor treatment modalities based on copper sulfur compounds provide
a possibility for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and basic research. At the same time, the biotoxicity of Cu
chalcogenides is greatly reduced after surface modification, which provides a broad prospect for their
practical applications. Compared with the development of ferroptosis, cuproptosis has been presented as an
effective therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment [190,191] . However, the precise mechanism for Cu apoptosis
and its related signaling pathways are still unclear.

Further, the large-scale synthesis strategy for industrialization and clinic is worth considering. The
transformation from lab-made to everyday use is essential for the potential application.

Overall, the development of plasmonic copper chalcogenides is promising, especially for biological
applications. In my opinion, the emergence of the “new copper generation” is just around the corner.

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Wrote the manuscript: Mao Q, Ma J
Revised the manuscript: Mao Q, Ma J, Chen M, Lin S, Razzaq N
Guided this work and rewrote parts of the manuscript: Cui J
Mao Q and Ma J contributed equally to this work.

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22104105), the Natural
Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20210702), Leading Talents of Innovation and
Entrepreneurship of Gusu (No. ZXL2022515), and Research Fund from Soochow University (No.
NH12800122).

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023.