Issue 32, 2021

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): utilizing injectable antioxidative hydrogels and ROS-producing therapies to manage the double-edged sword

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated in cellular metabolism and are essential for cellular signalling networks and physiological functions. However, the functions of ROS are ‘double-edged swords’ to living systems that have a fragile redox balance between ROS generation and elimination. A modest increase of ROS leads to enhanced cell proliferation, survival and benign immune responses, whereas ROS stress that overwhelms the cellular antioxidant capacity can damage nucleic acids, proteins and lipids, resulting in oncogenic mutations and cell death. ROS are therefore involved in many pathological conditions. On the other hand, ROS present selective toxicity and have been utilised against cancer and pathogens, thus also acting as a double-edged sword in the healthcare field. Injectable antioxidative hydrogels are gel precursors that form hydrogel constructs in situ upon delivery in vivo to maintain an antioxidative capacity. These hydrogels have been developed to counter ROS-induced pathological conditions, with significant advantages of biocompatibility, excellent moldability, and minimally invasive delivery. The intrinsic, readily controllable ROS-scavenging ability of the functionalised hydrogels overcomes many drawbacks of small molecule antioxidants. This review summarises the roles of ROS under pathological conditions and describes the state-of-the-art of injectable antioxidative hydrogels. A particular emphasis is also given to current ROS-producing therapeutic interventions, enabling potential application of injectable antioxidant hydrogels to prevent the adverse effects of many cancer and infection treatments.

Graphical abstract: Reactive oxygen species (ROS): utilizing injectable antioxidative hydrogels and ROS-producing therapies to manage the double-edged sword

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
01 Ապր 2021
Accepted
01 Հլս 2021
First published
01 Հլս 2021

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 6326-6346

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): utilizing injectable antioxidative hydrogels and ROS-producing therapies to manage the double-edged sword

Z. He, Q. Xu, B. Newland, R. Foley, I. Lara-Sáez, J. F. Curtin and W. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 6326 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB00728A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements