A selenium-containing metal-organic framework with exceptional antioxidant capability and ROS-scavenging exercise was constructed by a managed de novo encapsulation method of a glycoconjugate mimetic, particularly a sp2-iminoglycolipid bearing a selenoureido fragment (DSeU), inside a zeolitic-imidazolate framework exoskeleton. Biocompatible and homogeneous nanosized particles of ~70 nm (DSeU@ZIF8) have been obtained, which may very well be effectively internalized in cells, overcoming the poor solubility in organic media and restricted bioavailability of glycolipids. The ZIF-particle served as nanocarrier for the intracellular supply of the selenocompound to cells, promoted by the acidic pH inside endosomes/lysosomes. As demonstrated by in vitro research, the designed DSeU@ZIF8 nanoparticles displayed a excessive antioxidant exercise at low doses; decrease intracellular ROS ranges have been noticed upon the uptake of DSeU@ZIF8 by human endothelial cells. Much more attention-grabbing was the discovering that these DSeU@ZIF8 particles have been in a position to reverse to a sure degree the oxidative stress induced in cells by pre-treatment with an oxidizing agent. This risk of modulating the oxidative stress in dwelling cells could have necessary implications within the therapy of numerous pathological problems which might be typically accompanied with elevated ROS ranges.
