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Synthesis, physico-chemical characterization, and antioxidant effect of PEGylated cerium oxide nanoparticles

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Abstract

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs) represent a promising class of antioxidant nanoparticles with potential therapeutic value. Due to the easily reversible oxidation states of cerium (Ce3+ and Ce4+) at the nanoscale, CNPs scavenge excessive reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in a self-regenerative manner. In this study, we have demonstrated a simple method to functionalize shape-specific CNPs (i.e., rod- and cube-shaped) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and studied the effect of PEGylation on the physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity, and biocompatibility of rod- and cube-shaped CNPs. The chemical conjugation of PEG onto the CNP surface was confirmed by a series of physico-chemical characterizations (1H-NMR, FTIR, and surface zeta potential). Rod-shaped CNPs demonstrated greater reactive oxygen species scavenging ability compared to cube-shaped CNPs. PEGylation of CNPs did not affect shape, cerium oxidation state, and cytocompatibility. Importantly, PEGylation significantly reduced the amount of proteins adsorbed onto the CNPs. The antioxidant effects of CNPs were maintained in PEGylated CNPs. We envision that PEGylated rod-shaped CNPs synthesized in this study have the potential to be biocompatible nanoparticles that can combat oxidative stress-related diseases.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge funding support from the School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh (SS). YX and AP acknowledge the Graduate Student Research Scholarship from the School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh. We thank Dr. Donna Stolz, Center for Biologic Imaging, University of Pittsburgh, for access to the TEM facility. We thank Dr. Paul Johnston, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, for access to the spectrophotometer. We thank Piyusha Sane and Michael Washington, University of Pittsburgh, for critical reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Yingfei Xue and Sricharani Rao Balmuri contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 808A Salk Hall, 3501 Terrace Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Yingfei Xue, Sricharani Rao Balmuri, Akhil Patel, Vinayak Sant & Shilpa Sant

  2. Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Shilpa Sant

  3. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, USA

    Shilpa Sant

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  1. Yingfei Xue
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Correspondence to Shilpa Sant.

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Xue, Y., Balmuri, S.R., Patel, A. et al. Synthesis, physico-chemical characterization, and antioxidant effect of PEGylated cerium oxide nanoparticles. Drug Deliv. and Transl. Res. 8, 357–367 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13346-017-0396-1

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