A novel synthetic approach of cerium oxide nanoparticles with improved biomedical activity

作者：Caputo, Fanny; Mameli, Marta; Sienkiewicz, Andrzej; Licoccia, Silvia; Stellacci, Francesco; Ghibelli, Lina; Traversa, Enrico^*

来源：Scientific Reports, 2017, 7(1): 4636.

DOI：10.1038/s41598-017-04098-6

• SILICA NANOPARTICLES
• SURFACE MODIFICATION
• MESOPOROUS SILICA
• ANTIOXIDANT
• NANOCERIA
• PARTICLES
• THERAPY
• NANOMATERIALS
• PROSPECTS
• PATHWAYS

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs) are novel synthetic antioxidant agents proposed for treating oxidative stress-related diseases. The synthesis of high-quality CNPs for biomedical applications remains a challenging task. A major concern for a safe use of CNPs as pharmacological agents is their tendency to agglomerate. Herein we present a simple direct precipitation approach, exploiting ethylene glycol as synthesis co-factor, to synthesize at room temperature nanocrystalline sub-10 nm CNPs, followed by a surface silanization approach to improve nanoparticle dispersibility in biological fluids. CNPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1-NMR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential measurements. CNP redox activity was studied in abiotic systems using electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements, and in vitro on human cell models. In-situ silanization improved CNP colloidal stability, in comparison with non-functionalized particles, and allowed at the same time improving their original biological activity, yielding thus functionalized CNPs suitable for biomedical applications.

• 出版日期2017-7-5
• 单位西安交通大学