Synergistic degradation of a hyperuricemia-causing metabolite using one-pot enzyme-nanozyme cascade reactions

Abstract

Multi-enzyme cascade reactions are frequently found in living organisms, in particular when an intermediate should be eliminated. Recently, enzyme-mimic nanomaterials (nanozymes) received much attention for various applications, because they are usually more stable and cost-effective than enzymes. However, enzyme-nanozyme cascade reations have not been yet extensively exploited. Therefore, in this study, we investigated one-pot enzyme-nanozyme cascade reactions using urate oxidase (UOX) and catalase-mimic gold nanoparticle nanozyme (AuNP) with the ultimate goal of treatment of hyperuricemia. UOX degrades hyperuricemia-causing uric acid, but also generates hydrogen peroxide raising several health concerns. We successfully demonstrated that one-pot UOX-AuNP cascade systems degrade uric acid more than five times faster than UOX alone, by eliminating potentially cytotoxic hydrogen peroxide, similar to enzyme-enzyme reactions.