Oxygen-Binding Sites of Enriched Gold Nanoclusters for Capturing Mitochondrial Reverse Electrons
Journal
Nano Letters
Journal Volume
24
Journal Issue
36
Start Page
11202
End Page
11209
ISSN
1530-6984
1530-6992
Date Issued
2024-08-29
Author(s)
Fang-Hsuean Liao
Shu-Ping Chen
Chun-Nien Yao
Te-Haw Wu
Meng-Ting Liu
Chia-Shuo Hsu
Shu-Yi Lin
Abstract
Reverse electron transfer (RET), an abnormal backward flow of electrons from complexes III/IV to II/I of mitochondria, causes the overproduction of a reduced-type CoQ to boost downstream production of mitochondrial superoxide anions that leads to ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) to organs. Herein, we studied low-coordinated gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) with abundant oxygen-binding sites to form an electron-demanding trapper that allowed rapid capture of electrons to compensate for the CoQ/CoQH2 imbalance during RET. The AuNCs were composed of only eight gold atoms that formed a Cs-symmetrical configuration with all gold atoms exposed on the edge site. The geometry and atomic configuration enhance oxygen intercalation to attain a d-band electron deficiency in frontier orbitals, forming an unusually high oxidation state for rapid mitochondrial reverse electron capture under a transient imbalance of CoQ/CoQH2 redox cycles. Using hepatic IRI cells/animals, we corroborated that the CoQ-like AuNCs prevent inflammation and liver damage from IRI via recovery of the mitochondrial function.
Subjects
CoQ
gold nanoclusters
Low-coordination
oxygen intercalation
reverse electron transfer
SDGs
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Type
journal article