Single-atom nanozymes catalytically surpassing naturally occurring enzymes as sustained stitching for brain trauma

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 4744 - 16
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shaofang, Li, Yonghui, Sun, Si, Liu, Ling, Mu, Xiaoyu, Liu, Shuhu, Jiao, Menglu, Chen, Xinzhu, Chen, Ke, Ma, Huizhen, Li, Tuo, Liu, Xiaoyu, Wang, Hao, Zhang, Jianning, Yang, Jiang, Zhang, Xiao-Dong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12-08-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/135; 147/137; 147/143; 631/250/98; 631/92/609; 639/638/77/603; 639/638/92/607; 639/925/350/2093; Affinity; Biological activity; Brain; Brain Injuries, Traumatic; Catalase; Catalase - metabolism; Catalysis; Catalytic activity; Enzymes; Glutathione; Glutathione peroxidase; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; Growth factors; Healing; Horseradish peroxidase; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune system; Macrophages; multidisciplinary; Peroxidase; Recyclability; Scalp; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selectivity; Stitching; Superoxide dismutase; Sutures; Traumatic brain injury; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32411-z

Regenerable nanozymes with high catalytic stability and sustainability are promising substitutes for naturally-occurring enzymes but are limited by insufficient and non-selective catalytic activities. Herein, we developed single-atom nanozymes of RhN
4
, VN
4
, and Fe-Cu-N
6
with catalytic activities surpassing natural enzymes. Notably, Rh/VN
4
preferably forms an Rh/V-O-N
4
active center to decrease reaction energy barriers and mediates a “two-sided oxygen-linked” reaction path, showing 4 and 5-fold higher affinities in peroxidase-like activity than the FeN
4
and natural horseradish peroxidase. Furthermore, RhN
4
presents a 20-fold improved affinity in the catalase-like activity compared to the natural catalase; Fe-Cu-N
6
displays selectivity towards the superoxide dismutase-like activity; VN
4
favors a 7-fold higher glutathione peroxidase-like activity than the natural glutathione peroxidase. Bioactive sutures with Rh/VN
4
show recyclable catalytic features without apparent decay in 1 month and accelerate the scalp healing from brain trauma by promoting the vascular endothelial growth factor, regulating the immune cells like macrophages, and diminishing inflammation.
The catalytic activity of regenerable nanozymes is currently the bottle neck for their wider employment. Here, the authors report on single-atom nanozymes of RhN
4
, VN
4
, and Fe-Cu-N
6
with higher catalytic activities than natural enzymes, and demonstrate the Rh/VN
4
recyclability and scalp healing properties in bioactive sutures.