Magnetic Iron oxide (Fe3O4) NPs are a type of biocompatible nanomaterials that have been widely used for bioimaging, biodiagnostic,and therapeutic purposes. It has been reported that Fe3O4 NPs possess intrinsic enzyme-like activities.Recently, Yi Zhang, Nan Chen and Chunhai Fan from Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, CAS and Haiyun Song from Shanghai Institute of biological science, CAS explored the effects of Fe3O4 NPs on intracellular ROS levels and their biological consequences with severalcell or animal models. This work was published in Advanced Materials 2015(DOI: 10.1002/adma.201503893).

They firstly demonstrated that Fe3O4 NPs have high biocompatibility with cultured cell lines and Drosophila.Intracellular Fe3O4 NPs protect cells from H2O2 induced oxidativestress and apoptosis. In addition, they exert neuroprotectiveroles in a PD cell model, diminishingα-Synuclein accumulationand Caspase-3 activation. More significantly, dietaryFe3O4 NPs reduce ROS levels in aged Drosophila, enhancetheir climbing ability and prolong their life span. Finally, they found that dietary Fe3O4 NPs alleviate neurodegeneration andincrease longevity in a Drosophila AD model. Taken together, these results suggest that Fe3O4 NPs possess catalase-like activityin vivo, which can reduce intracellular oxidative stress, delay animal aging, and protect against neurodegeneration.

Contact

Fan Chunhai

Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics(SINAP),CAS 

E-mail: fanchunhai@sinap.ac.cn