Antioxidant Nanozymes: From Rational Design to Biomedical Applications

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Enzyme Mimics

Background:

• Natural antioxidant enzymes face limitations like short half-life and immunogenicity, hindering clinical use.
• Antioxidant nanozymes mimic natural enzymes but offer enhanced stability, tunable activity, and lower costs.
• Diverse nanozymes have been developed, addressing challenges in reactive oxygen species homeostasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review antioxidant nanozyme mechanisms, design strategies, and biomedical applications.
• To clarify structure-activity relationships for rational material design.
• To identify bottlenecks in preclinical research and clinical translation.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of literature on antioxidant nanozymes.
• Analysis of catalytic mechanisms and structure-activity relationships.
• Evaluation of biomedical applications and clinical progress.

Main Results:

• Antioxidant nanozymes overcome limitations of natural enzymes, showing potential in various diseases.
• CNM-Au8, an antioxidant nanocrystal, is in phase II clinical trials for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Rational design principles are emerging for improved nanozyme development.

Conclusions:

• Antioxidant nanozymes represent a promising therapeutic strategy with significant biomedical potential.
• Further research and optimization are needed to overcome remaining challenges for clinical translation.
• This review provides design principles to guide future development and application of antioxidant nanozymes.