articleNature CommunicationsJan 3, 2024GOLD OA

A natural biogenic nanozyme for scavenging superoxide radicals

Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Biophysics · +5 more institutions

PubMed
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Abstract

Biominerals, the inorganic minerals of organisms, are known mainly for their physical property-related functions in modern living organisms. Our recent discovery of the enzyme-like activities of nanomaterials, coined as nanozyme, inspires the hypothesis that nano-biominerals might function as enzyme-like catalyzers in cells. Here we report that the iron cores of biogenic ferritins act as natural nanozymes to scavenge superoxide radicals. Through analyzing eighteen representative ferritins from three living kingdoms, we find that the iron core of prokaryote ferritin possesses higher superoxide-diminishing activity than that of eukaryotes. Further investigation reveals that the differences in catalytic…

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