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Review
. 2014 Oct;32(10):501-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2014.08.005. Epub 2014 Aug 28.

Hydrophilic carbon clusters as therapeutic, high-capacity antioxidants

Errol L G Samuel  1 , MyLinh T Duong  1 , Brittany R Bitner  2 , Daniela C Marcano  1 , James M Tour  3 , Thomas A Kent  4
Affiliations
Review

Hydrophilic carbon clusters as therapeutic, high-capacity antioxidants

Errol L G Samuel et al. Trends Biotechnol. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Oxidative stress reflects an excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and is a hallmark of several acute and chronic human pathologies. Although many antioxidants have been investigated, most have demonstrated poor efficacy in clinical trials. Here we discuss the limitations of current antioxidants and describe a new class of nanoparticle antioxidants, poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs). PEG-HCCs show high capacity to annihilate ROS such as superoxide (O2(•-)) and the hydroxyl (HO(•)) radical, show no reactivity toward the nitric oxide radical (NO(•)), and can be functionalized with targeting moieties without loss of activity. Given these properties, we propose that PEG-HCCs offer an exciting new area of study for the treatment of numerous ROS-induced human pathologies.

Keywords: antioxidant; carbon nanoparticle; oxidative stress; traumatic brain injury.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. HCC synthesis and functionalization
HCCs are prepared from SWNTs by oxidation in fuming sulfuric acid and nitric acid (top left). The carboxylic acids on the resulting HCCs are coupled to PEG to form PEG-HCCs (top right), which can be used to non-covalently sequester hydrophobic drugs, targeting antibodies or both for a variety of medicinal applications (bottom).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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