Biocatalytic and Antioxidant Nanostructures for ROS Scavenging and Biotherapeutics

Abstract In human systems, reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly affect different physiological activities and play critical roles in diverse living processes. It is widely known that excessive ROS generation in inflammatory tissues can further deteriorate the localized tissue injury and cause chronic diseases. Though promising for reducing ROS levels, many antioxidant molecules and natural enzymes suffer from abundant intrinsic limitations. Recently, a series of biocatalytic or antioxidant nanostructures have been designed with distinctive ROS scavenging capabilities, which show promising activities to overcome these kernel challenges. In this timely review, the most recent advances in engineering biocatalytic and antioxidant nanostructures for ROS scavenging are summarized. First, the ROS scavenging principles and corresponding methods for testing various enzymatic activities are carefully concluded. Subsequently, the rationally designed nanostructures with high ROS scavenging efficiencies are comprehensively discussed, especially on the catalytic activities, mechanisms, and structure‐function relationships. After that, the representative applications of these ROS scavenging nanostructures for diverse biotherapeutics are summarized in detail. At last, the primary challenges and future perspectives in this emerging research frontier have also been outlined. It is believed that this progress review will offer a cutting‐edge understanding and guidance to engineering future high‐performance ROS scavenging nanostructures for broad biotherapeutic applications.