Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNP) appear to be promising therapeutic candidates for a number of diseases due to their unique redox characteristics. Recently, research from our group has identified cerium oxide nanoparticles as a potential radioprotectant for normal, but not cancer cells. To date, there is not much information on the molecules and pathways with which CNP interact in cells. In particular, we are interested in thereactivity of CNP in phosphate ester hydrolysis. We investigated the reactivity of CNP with p-nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP), ATP, o-phospho-L-tyrosine, and DNA. We report that CNP effectively cleave the phosphate ester bonds of pNPP, o-phospho-L-tyrosine, and ATP, but not those of DNA, and that the cleavage is dependent on the availability of cerium (III) sites. We investigated the dephosphorylation mechanism from firstprinciples and find the reaction proceeds through inversion of the phosphate group similar to an SN2 mechanism.

Dephosphorylation of biologically relevant molecules by cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNP)

240th National Meeting (2010)

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