Throughout the history of science and technology development, we can find that contemporary science and technology are the result of the integration of micro and macro, interdisciplinary interdisciplinary, infiltration of various basic sciences into various disciplines, and many other major scientific breakthroughs. Interdisciplinary integration. In the past 100 years, nearly half of the Nobel Prize in Natural Science was the result of cross-disciplinary fusion. For example, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA molecules was achieved by the cross fusion of physics, biology, and chemistry. In fact, with the development of science, it is difficult to solve complicated real-world problems based on the research of a certain subject area.

With the completion of the Human Genome Project, nanoscience and biophysical and chemical technology have developed rapidly, and disciplines have become increasingly intertwined, and people have entered the post-life science era. Among them, the remarkable "nanozyme" is the product of cross-disciplinary fusion, and has become a rising star in the post-life science era.

酶 Enzymes are involved in most life processes in nature. Natural enzymes are a class of biomolecules with catalytic functions, mainly proteins. Their catalytic characteristics are high efficiency and substrate specificity. However, due to the low content of most natural enzymes and non-physiological conditions such as heat, acid, and alkali, it is prone to denaturation and loss of function. With the rapid development of nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanomaterials have gradually penetrated into all branches of life science. In 2007, Chinese scientists discovered that the inorganic nanomaterial Fe3O4 itself has a biological activity similar to that of a natural enzyme, Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP), and its catalytic efficiency is similar to that of natural enzymes. Since then, Chinese scientists have first proposed the concept of "nanozymes."

Compared with traditional mimic enzymes, nano-enzymes have higher catalytic efficiency, and are also stable to heat, acids, and bases, can be prepared on a large scale, and have lower prices. These characteristics not only make up for the weakness of natural enzymes, which are expensive and unstable, but also overcome the problem of the low catalytic efficiency of past simulated enzymes. Therefore, nanoenzymes have potential wide application value, and the related application research is also increasing.

The advent of nano enzymes has provided new ideas for tumor diagnosis and treatment. For example, researchers coupled antibody molecules to the surface of magnetic nanoparticles, making them nanoprobes that recognize and color tumors, and obtained results similar to traditional enzyme-labeled immunohistochemistry methods. A more interesting finding is that in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, iron oxide nanoparticles can directly kill tumor cells through the properties of their peroxo mimic enzymes.

The immunoassay method established by nano enzymes can quickly detect many antigens, including proteins, nucleic acids, small molecule antigens, viruses, bacteria and cells. These enzyme-linked immunoassay methods established by using nano enzymes have improved the speed and sensitivity of detection, and have great application prospects in clinical diagnosis.

The in vivo tracking of magnetic nanomaterials is easy to operate due to the appearance of nanoenzymes, without the need to mark any groups on the surface of the nanomaterials. At present, nanomaterials have been widely used as drug carriers and contrast agents in in vivo imaging and disease treatment. This new method is more sensitive, and avoids the in vivo metabolism of nanomaterials due to the modification of traditional materials. It also provides new ideas for nanomaterial tracking with peroxidase activity.

氢 Hydrogen peroxide is a commonly used germicidal disinfectant. This is because hydrogen peroxide can decompose to generate free radicals, which destroys the active components of bacteria. However, the efficiency of generating free radicals is low, and adding a catalyst will accelerate the reaction. Nanomaterials with peroxide mimic enzyme activity can be used as such catalysts to increase the efficiency of hydrogen peroxide to generate free radicals and enhance the effect of sterilization and disinfection. Therefore, the antibacterial effect of nanozymes can inhibit the adhesion of microorganisms, effectively prevent the formation of biofilms, and have potential application value in antifouling of ship shells.

Nanozymes can replace natural enzymes for environmental monitoring. Using the catalytic activity of peroxide nanozymes, scientists can quickly detect the content of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater, monitor acid rain, and detect heavy metal ions such as mercury ions in the environment. In addition, the nano-enzyme has a degradation effect on a variety of pollutants, and will also have a wide range of application values in sewage treatment.

Nanozyme detection method is suitable for operation under a variety of conditions, and is simple and inexpensive. Therefore, it can be easily applied to a variety of pesticides, organophosphorus compounds for neurotoxicity screening and national defense security.

In view of the fact that nanoenzymes are a class of mimic enzymes that have the unique properties of nanomaterials and catalytic functions, how can these dual functional characteristics of nanoenzymes be skillfully combined to create more exotic nanoenzymes and reveal their role The mechanism and its application to human health, environmental protection and bioenergy are new topics to be studied in the future.
Source: Internet