Department of Periodontology, Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, P. R. China.
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Center for Supramolecular Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China.
ACS Nano. 2024 Mar 19;18(11):8307-8324. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c12580. Epub 2024 Mar 4.
Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease closely associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) involvement. Eliminating ROS to control the periodontal microenvironment and alleviate the inflammatory response could potentially serve as an efficacious therapy for periodontitis. Melatonin (MT), renowned for its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics, is frequently employed as an ROS scavenger in inflammatory diseases. However, the therapeutic efficacy of MT remains unsatisfactory due to the low water solubility and poor bioavailability. Carbon dots have emerged as a promising and innovative nanomaterial with facile synthesis, environmental friendliness, and low cost. In this study, melatonin-derived carbon dots (MT-CDs) were successfully synthesized via the hydrothermal method. The MT-CDs have good water solubility and biocompatibility and feature excellent ROS-scavenging capacity without additional modification. The experiments proved that MT-CDs efficiently regulated intracellular ROS, which maintained mitochondrial homeostasis and suppressed the production of inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, findings from the mouse model of periodontitis indicated that MT-CDs significantly inhibited the deterioration of alveolar bone and reduced osteoclast activation and inflammation, thereby contributing to the regeneration of damaged tissue. In terms of the mechanism, MT-CDs may scavenge ROS, thereby preventing cellular damage and the production of inflammatory factors by regulating the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway. The findings will offer a vital understanding of the advancement of secure and effective ROS-scavenging platforms for more biomedical applications.
牙周炎是一种与活性氧（ROS）参与密切相关的慢性炎症性疾病。消除 ROS 以控制牙周微环境和减轻炎症反应可能成为治疗牙周炎的有效方法。褪黑素（MT）以其强大的抗氧化和抗炎特性而闻名，常用于炎症性疾病中的 ROS 清除剂。然而，由于其低水溶性和生物利用度差，MT 的治疗效果仍不尽人意。碳点作为一种具有合成简便、环境友好和成本低廉等特点的有前途的新型纳米材料，已经出现。在本研究中，通过水热法成功合成了褪黑素衍生的碳点（MT-CDs）。MT-CDs 具有良好的水溶性和生物相容性，具有出色的 ROS 清除能力，无需额外修饰。实验证明，MT-CDs 可有效调节细胞内 ROS，维持线粒体稳态，抑制炎症介质的产生。此外，牙周炎小鼠模型的研究结果表明，MT-CDs 可显著抑制牙槽骨的恶化，减少破骨细胞的激活和炎症，从而促进受损组织的再生。就机制而言，MT-CDs 可能通过调节核因子红细胞 2 相关因子 2（Nrf2）/血红素加氧酶-1（HO-1）途径来清除 ROS，从而防止细胞损伤和炎症因子的产生。这些发现将为更安全有效的 ROS 清除平台的发展提供重要的认识，以应用于更多的生物医学领域。
