Application of Carbon-based Nanozymes in Disease Treatment and Prevention

Meimei Liu, Shiyao Song, Zhihan Qu, Biyao Zhao, Runkun Zhang, Zhiming Huo

Prog Chem ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (10) : 1540-1554.

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Prog Chem ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (10) : 1540-1554. DOI: 10.7536/PC20250306
Review

Application of Carbon-based Nanozymes in Disease Treatment and Prevention

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Abstract

As a new generation of biomimetic enzyme catalytic materials, carbon-based nano-mimetic enzymes (CNEs) demonstrate significant value in the fields of sample analysis, environmental remediation and biomedicine, which is due to their multi-enzyme activity characteristics, such as peroxidase/oxidase. Compared with natural enzymes, CNEs exhibit advantages such as facile preparation, low cost, excellent stability, and, more importantly, the tailorable catalytic activity through structural modulation. These merits make them a promising next-generation alternative to the enzyme. Based on recent research progress over the past five years, this review summarizes the relationship between structural and catalytic activity from CNEs and elucidates the regulatory mechanism of their active site distribution and electronic structure on catalytic performance. It also discussed the strategies of heteroatom doping, secondary chemical modification, and environmental optimization factors for the influence on CNEs’ enzyme activity, and pointed out the effective enhancement approaches among them. Moreover, the application cases of enzyme-targeted therapy and preventive intervention in disease are reviewed. At the end of this paper, the future research prospect of new structural design and intelligent response system construction of CNEs is proposed, aiming to expand the application boundary of CNEs in the field of precision medicine and public health, and provide innovative ideas and strategies for solving global health problems. Finally, prospects for CNEs are proposed, focusing on novel structural designs and intelligent responsive system development. Hopefully, we can expand CNEs’ applications in precision medicine and public health domains, thereby providing innovative solutions for addressing global health challenges.

Contents

1 Introduction

2 Classification of structure and activity of carbon-based nanozymes

2.1 Carbon nano-spheres enzyme

2.2 Carbon nanotubes enzyme

2.3 Carbon quantum dot enzymes

2.4 Porous organic frameworks

2.5 Single-atom carbon-based nanozymes

2.6 Other

3 The influent factors the catalytic activity of carbon-based nanozymes

3.1 Heteroatom doping

3.2 Secondary chemical modification

3.3 Environmental condition control

4 Biomedicine application of carbon-based nanozymes

4.1 Small molecule screening

4.2 Regulates oxidative stress

4.3 Antimicrobial therapy

4.4 Oncology treatment

5 Conclusion and prospects

Key words

carbon-based nanozymes / enzyme structure / regulation of enzyme-like activity / disease treatment and prevention

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Meimei Liu , Shiyao Song , Zhihan Qu , et al . Application of Carbon-based Nanozymes in Disease Treatment and Prevention[J]. Progress in Chemistry. 2025, 37(10): 1540-1554 https://doi.org/10.7536/PC20250306

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(22074023)
Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Guangdong Province, China(A2024469)
Scientific Research Project of Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province, China(20251213)
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