Recent advances in antioxidant cerium-based nanozymes: Catalytic mechanisms and bioanalysis/biomedical applications

Antioxidant enzymes serve as crucial reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging systems in living organisms, capable of efficiently catalyzing the decomposition of excess ROS and playing pivotal roles in anti-aging processes and tumor therapy. However, natural enzymes face significant limitations in practical applications, including limited sources, poor stability, and high production costs. The catalytic mechanisms and precisely organized three-dimensional structures of natural antioxidant enzymes provide important biomimetic insights for designing and developing artificial nanozymes. Among these, cerium-based nanozymes exhibit superior antioxidant-like activity and reaction kinetics due to their unique Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ redox pairs and surface oxygen vacancy structures, demonstrating promising application in biomedical fields. This review systematically summarizes the catalytic mechanisms and biomedical applications of cerium-based antioxidant nanozymes. Building upon the biomimetic catalytic principles of natural catalase, we analyze the structure-activity relationships and performance enhancement strategies of cerium-based antioxidant nanozymes. Furthermore, we highlight recent advances in biomedical applications of cerium-based antioxidant nanozymes and discuss current challenges and future opportunities for their future use.