Nanoceria for ocular diseases: recent advances and future prospects

Nanoceria, well known as a type of nanozyme, exhibits unique auto-regenerative antioxidant capacity, mainly originating from a fraction of Ce3+ ions that can be reversibly switched to the Ce4+ ions in cerium oxide. This antioxidant nanoceria can potentially scavenge noxious reactive oxygen species, leading to its wide applications in the management of various oxidative stress-related diseases, especially ocular diseases. Besides, nanoceria could be adopted as a nanocarrier to deliver specific drug to ocular tissues. This review would give a detailed introduction on the recent exciting advances of nanoceria application in various preclinical ophthalmic disease models, including corneal diseases, lens diseases, glaucoma, and retinal diseases. And ease of surface modification would help improving the safety, bioavailability, and ocular targeting properties of nanoceria, making nanoceria a versatile and promising nanomaterial for biomedical applications in the future.