Low back pain is one of the most common causes of disability worldwide, and intervertebral disc degeneration is a major underlying condition. Current treatments mainly relieve symptoms or address advanced structural damage. They do not directly correct the complex cellular changes that continue to drive degeneration.
The degenerative disc environment contains excessive reactive oxygen species, impaired mitochondria, and ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death driven by iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. These processes reinforce one another. Damaged mitochondria generate additional reactive oxygen species, while oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation further impair mitochondrial function and extracellular matrix maintenance.
A research team from Taizhou Hospital constructed an interfacial electron transfer functional composite consisting of metal boride-based MnB nanosheets and a resveratrol-α-lipoic acid-RGD conjugate (RLG). As a two-dimensional metal boride, MnB exhibited prominent multi-enzyme-mimetic activity, which enabled efficient scavenging of ROS and suppression of lipid peroxidation, thereby inhibiting oxidative stress and ferroptosis-related processes. Coordination between the disulfide bonds of α-lipoic acid and the MnB surface establishes a stable interfacial electronic microenvironment, which enhances the catalytic antioxidant performance of MnB and amplifies resveratrol mediated activation of SIRT1 signaling. These effects collectively promoted mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis, improved mitochondrial function and cellular energy metabolism. Through the coordinated regulation of oxidative stress, ferroptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction, the MnB-RLG system exerts synergistic bioactivities and effectively mitigates IDD progression.
The study was published in Nano Research on August 28, 2026.
“Our goal was not simply to remove excess reactive oxygen species, but to interrupt the mutually reinforcing relationship among oxidative stress, ferroptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction,” said Chao Jiang, corresponding author of the study. “The multifunctional design allowed the material to address several pathological processes within the degenerative disc environment.”
In rat nucleus pulposus cells exposed to oxidative stress, MnB-RLG reduced intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and limited ferrous iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. It also restored glutathione levels and the expression of ferroptosis-related antioxidant proteins, including GPX4, xCT, NRF2, and HO-1. These findings indicate that the nanozyme helped stabilize both iron metabolism and lipid redox balance.
The material also protected mitochondrial structure and bioenergetic function. Treated cells showed improved mitochondrial membrane potential, respiratory capacity, and ATP production. MnB-RLG was associated with increased SIRT1/PINK1/Parkin-related mitophagy markers, supporting the removal of damaged mitochondria. At the tissue-maintenance level, it promoted nucleus pulposus cell proliferation and migration, reduced inflammatory signaling, increased type II collagen, and suppressed the matrix-degrading enzyme MMP13.
The team then evaluated MnB-RLG in a rat puncture-induced model of intervertebral disc degeneration. Imaging and histological analyses showed that treatment preserved disc height, reduced structural collapse, maintained the proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix, and lowered markers of ferroptosis and oxidative damage.
These results support metabolic-redox regulation as a broader strategy for disc protection. Before clinical translation, the long-term biosafety, degradation, disc-targeting efficiency, and therapeutic performance in large-animal models will need to be evaluated.
Other contributors include Fang Tang, Xinyu Wu, Huaxing Hong, Zhiyu Fang, Liulin Zhu, Kaiting Zhang, Yu Zhu, Jiaqian Bao, Jingyao Chen, Yiyu Chen, Haixiao Chen, and Zhenghua Hong. The authors are affiliated with Taizhou Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University and Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LQN25H060002), Zhejiang Province Postdoctoral Research Project Priority Support (Grant No. ZJ2025056), Zhejiang Provincial Health Science and Technology Program (Grant No. 2025HY1424), and Taizhou Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant No. 24ywa05).
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908983
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 8,000 articles. In 2025 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2025 IF is 9.4 (8.3, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
Nano Research
Multifunctional nanozyme ameliorates intervertebral disc degeneration via metabolic-redox modulation
28-Aug-2026