Hot Topics and Challenges of Regenerative Nanoceria in Application of Antioxidant Therapy

Abstract

As a new antioxidant, nanoceria is of significant importance in applications of medical and biological fields. In comparison with conventional organic antioxidants, nanoceria has multienzyme mimetic activity by <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">C</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">e</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">4</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">C</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">e</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">3</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:math> redox cycle. This unique regenerative/autocatalytic property has been widely used in the aspects of free-radical scavenger, radiation protection, oxidative-stress-related disease, drug delivery, biosensor, tissue engineering, cancer biomarker, and anti-inflammatory. This paper reviews the latest breakthrough of nanoceria as an antioxidant in applications of medical and biological fields on the base of the authors’ research works on resistance to oxidation and cytotoxicity. The challenges of nanoceria encountered in applications in medical and biological fields are commented as well.