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Biocompatibility selenium nanoparticles with an intrinsic oxidase-like activity

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Abstract

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are considered to be the new selenium supplement forms with high biological activity and low toxicity; however, the molecular mechanism by which SeNPs exert the biological function is unclear. Here, we reported that biocompatibility SeNPs possessed intrinsic oxidase-like activity. Using Na2SeO3 as a precursor and glutathione as a reductant, biocompatibility SeNPs were synthesized by the wet chemical reduction method in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The results of structure characterization revealed that synthesized SeNPs were amorphous red elementary selenium with spherical morphology, and ranged in size from 25 to 70 nm size with a narrow distribution (41.4 ± 6.7 nm). The oxidase-like activity of the as-synthesized SeNPs was tested with 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a substrate. The results indicated that SeNPs could catalyze the oxidization of TMB by dissolved oxygen. These SeNPs showed an optimum catalytic activity at pH 4 and 30 °C, and the oxidase-like activity was higher as the concentration of SeNPs increased and the size of SeNPs decreased. The Michaelis constant (K m) values and maximal reaction velocity (V max) of the SeNPs for TMB oxidation were 0.0083 mol/L and 3.042 μmol/L min, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the faculty from Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 31170775)and the “Youth Chen-Guang Project” of Wuhan Bureau of Science and Technology (2015070404010184).

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Leilei Guo, Kaixun Huang & Hongmei Liu

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  1. Leilei Guo
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  2. Kaixun Huang
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  3. Hongmei Liu
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Correspondence to Hongmei Liu.

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Guo, L., Huang, K. & Liu, H. Biocompatibility selenium nanoparticles with an intrinsic oxidase-like activity. J Nanopart Res 18, 74 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3357-6

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