Background: Nanomaterials that exhibit intrinsic enzyme-like characteristics have shown great promise as potential antibacterial agents. However, many of them exhibit inefficient antibacterial activity and biosafety problems that limit their usefulness. The development of new nanomaterials with good biocompatibility and rapid bactericidal effects is therefore highly desirable. Here, we show a new type of terbium oxide nanoparticles (Tb4O7 NPs) with intrinsic oxidase-like activity for in vitro and in vivo antibacterial application.
Results: We find that Tb4O7 NPs can quickly oxidize a series of organic substrates in the absence of hydrogen peroxide. The oxidase-like capacity of Tb4O7 NPs allows these NPs to consume antioxidant biomolecules and generate reactive oxygen species to disable bacteria in vitro. Moreover, the in vivo experiments showed that Tb4O7 NPs are efficacious in wound-healing and are protective of normal tissues.
Conclusions: Our results reveal that Tb4O7 NPs have intrinsic oxidase-like activity and show effective antibacterial ability both in vitro and in vivo. These findings demonstrate that Tb4O7 NPs are effective antibacterial agents and may have a potential application in wound healing.
Keywords: Antibacterial; Oxidase; Reactive oxygen species; Tb4O7 nanoparticles; Wound healing.