Bioactive Materials (Jan 2024)

Smart antioxidant function enhancing (SAFE) nucleic acid therapy for ROS-related chronic diseases and comorbidities

  • Zhiguo Lu,
  • Ruichen Zhao,
  • Yi Li,
  • Jianze Wang,
  • Jing Guo,
  • Chaobo Bai,
  • Jing Chen,
  • Jun Yang,
  • Yiwan Geng,
  • Tianlu Zhang,
  • Yanyue Wu,
  • Xiyue Jiao,
  • Yining Wang,
  • Junliang Yuan,
  • Xin Zhang

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 31
pp. 509 – 524

Abstract

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Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress exacerbates chronic diseases such as organ damage and neurodegenerative disorders. The Keap1-Nrf2-ARE pathway is a widely distributed endogenous antioxidant system. However, ROS under redox homeostasis regulates a wide range of life activities. Therefore, smart scavenging of excess ROS under pathological conditions is essential to treat chronic diseases safely. This study reports a smart antioxidant function enhancement (SAFE) strategy. On-demand release of nucleic acid drugs in a pathological ROS environment smartly activates the endogenous antioxidant system, thereby smartly alleviating oxidative stress in an exogenous antioxidant-independent manner. Through structural modulation and ligand modification, we develop SAFE nanoparticles based on nanohybrid complexes (SAFE-complex) adapted to brain delivery of nucleic acid drugs. SAFE-complex with homogeneous monodisperse structure efficiently treat ROS-related neurodegenerative diseases while protecting the major organ from oxidative stress damage. Moreover, SAFE-complex can stabilize storage in the form of freeze-dried powder. These data indicate that SAFE nanoparticles hold promise for treating ROS-related chronic diseases and comorbidities through rational transformation.

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