LAUSR

Carbon-based superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic nanozymes have recently been employed as promising antioxidant nanotherapeutics due to their distinct properties. The structural features responsible for the efficacy of these nanomaterials as antioxidants is, however, poorly understood. Here, we studied the process-structure-property-performance properties of coconut-derived oxidized activated charcoal (cOAC) nano-SOD mimetics by analyzing how modifications to the nanomaterial's synthesis impact the size, as well as the elemental and electrochemical properties of the particles. We then correlate these properties to the in vitro antioxidant bioactivity of poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized cOACs (PEG-cOAC). Chemical oxidative treatment methods that afford smaller, more homogeneous cOAC nanoparticles with higher levels of quinone functionalization show enhanced protection against oxidative damage in bEnd.3 murine endothelioma cells. In an in vivo rat model of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and oxidative vascular injury, PEG-cOACs restored cerebral perfusion rapidly to the same extent as our former nanotube-derived PEG-hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCCs) with a single intravenous injection. These findings provide fa deeper understanding for how carbon nanozyme syntheses can be tailored for improved antioxidant bioactivity, and set the stage for translation for medical applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.