Bactericidal effects and accelerated wound healing using Tb4O7 nanoparticles with intrinsic oxidase-like activity

• Main Authors: Chen Li, Yurong Sun, Xiaoping Li, Sanhong Fan, Yimin Liu, Xiumei Jiang, Mary D. Boudreau, Yue Pan, Xin Tian, Jun-Jie Yin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-04-01
• Series: Journal of Nanobiotechnology
• Subjects: Tb4O7 nanoparticles; Oxidase; Reactive oxygen species; Antibacterial; Wound healing
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12951-019-0487-x

Abstract Background Nanomaterials that exhibit intrinsic enzyme-like characteristics have shown great promise as potential antibacterial agents. However, many of them exhibit inefficient antibacterial activity and biosafety problems that limit their usefulness. The development of new nanomaterials with good biocompatibility and rapid bactericidal effects is therefore highly desirable. Here, we show a new type of terbium oxide nanoparticles (Tb4O7 NPs) with intrinsic oxidase-like activity for in vitro and in vivo antibacterial application. Results We find that Tb4O7 NPs can quickly oxidize a series of organic substrates in the absence of hydrogen peroxide. The oxidase-like capacity of Tb4O7 NPs allows these NPs to consume antioxidant biomolecules and generate reactive oxygen species to disable bacteria in vitro. Moreover, the in vivo experiments showed that Tb4O7 NPs are efficacious in wound-healing and are protective of normal tissues. Conclusions Our results reveal that Tb4O7 NPs have intrinsic oxidase-like activity and show effective antibacterial ability both in vitro and in vivo. These findings demonstrate that Tb4O7 NPs are effective antibacterial agents and may have a potential application in wound healing.