Abstract
SummaryNatural enzymes are mainly composed by the protein part and metallic cofactor part, both of which work cooperatively to achieve high catalytic activity. Here, natural melanin particles (NMPs) were extracted from human hair and further bound with metal ions to mimic natural enzymes. The different metal-bound NMPs (M-NMPs) exhibited different enzyme-like activities with great promise in diverse biomedical applications. It was found that Fe-bound NMPs (Fe-NMPs) showed outstanding peroxidase (POD)-like activity that possessed potential in antibacterial applications, and Mn-bound NMPs (Mn-NMPs) displayed catalase (CAT)-like activity with a remarkable radiotherapy sensitization effect in cancer therapy. Besides, Cu-bound NMPs (Cu-NMPs) could serve as combined POD, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and CAT alternatives, which exhibited prominent reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability, revealing great potential in anti-inflammation. The versatile enzyme-like activities of M-NMPs derived from hair might give extensive perspective for designing biomedical materials and provide a promising tool in solving biomedical problems.
Highlights
Natural enzymes, playing crucial roles in all the life activities, have been extensively applied in various fields owing to their superior performance (Chen et al, 2018; Li et al, 2017; Triplett et al, 2018; Wu et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2018)
It was found that Fe-bound natural melanin particles (NMPs) (Fe-NMPs) showed outstanding peroxidase (POD)-like activity that possessed potential in antibacterial applications, and Mn-bound NMPs (Mn-NMPs) displayed catalase (CAT)-like activity with a remarkable radiotherapy sensitization effect in cancer therapy
The versatile enzyme-like activities of MNMPs derived from hair might give extensive perspective for designing biomedical materials and provide a promising tool in solving biomedical problems
Summary
Natural enzymes, playing crucial roles in all the life activities, have been extensively applied in various fields owing to their superior performance (Chen et al, 2018; Li et al, 2017; Triplett et al, 2018; Wu et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2018). Great efforts have been made to develop natural enzyme alternatives with high performance (Wei and Wang, 2013; Yang et al, 2019). Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibited peroxidase (POD)-like activity for immunohistochemical detection (Fan et al, 2012; Gao et al, 2007). These enzyme alternatives showed considerable potential applications in biomedicine, the low efficiency and unsatisfied selectivity still restrict their practical applications
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