Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of porous cerium based metal–organic frameworks for microenvironment regulation and neural function repair in traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant cause of death and disability. After TBI, a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is generated, which triggers oxidative stress, destroys blood–brain barrier, induces inflammation, neuronal apoptosis and neurological damage. Therefore, regulating ROS balance is crucial for improving the prognosis of TBI. Nano antioxidant materials provide ideas for coping with ROS, among which metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted attention due to their diverse structures, high porosity and excellent catalytic performance. Cerium MOFs exhibit CAT-like and SOD-like activities through Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ cycling. However, the traditional hydrothermal method for synthesizing Ce-MOF suffers from problems such as time-consuming, energy consuming and uneven morphology, therefore urgently requires green and efficient preparation strategies. This paper employed an ultrasound assisted method to rapidly prepare spherical porous Ce based MOF (SP-Ce-MOF), using self-assembled micelles as soft templates. The introduction of ultrasound promoted the rapid occurrence of coordination reactions. The SP-Ce-MOF exhibited excellent antioxidant activity and effectively alleviated neuronal oxidative damage. Besides, neuroprotective drug curcumin (Cur) was loaded to construct Cur@SP-Ce-MOF, which effectively restored neural function and reduced neuronal apoptosis, providing a promising novel strategy for TBI therapy.