Catalytically Active Gold Clusters with Atomic Precision for Noninvasive Early Intervention of Neurotrauma

Abstract Background Neurotrauma is a head or spine injury caused by external forces. It is associated with oxidative stress, caused by the overproduction of peroxides and superoxides, and that can induce wound infection and trigger a serial of immunological reactions. The emerging catalysts have shown great potential for the treatment of brain injury and inhabiting neurogenic inflammation, but are limited to biosafety issues and delivery efficiency. Results Herein, we propose the noninvasive delivery route to brain trauma by employing highly active gold clusters with enzyme-like activity for achieving the early intervention. The ultrasmall gold clusters with unique size distribution show excellent catalytic activity with 10 times decomposition rate to H2O2. In vitro experiment shows the gold clusters can decrease the excessive O2•− and H2O2 compared with untreated cells. In vivo experiment shows gold clusters accelerate the wound healing of brain trauma and decrease the peroxide and superoxide of brain tissue. The western blot shows noninvasive treatment can decrease the inflammatory factors via inhibiting the activation of astrocytes and microglia. Conclusions Present work shows noninvasive treatment is a promising route for early intervention of brain trauma.