Authors
Lei Kang, Peiyao Chen, Ming Jin, Ravin Narain, Jiao Xu, Hui Yu, Xiaojuan Hao
Published in
Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e74809. Jul 27, 2026. Epub Jul 27, 2026.
Abstract
Conventional surfactants excel at stabilizing nanoemulsions but remain therapeutically inert-they carry drugs but do not actively participate in therapy. An ideal surfactant should integrate delivery function with intrinsic bioactivity, yet such dual-purpose molecules are rare. Here, we transform vitamin C into a fluorinated surfactant (F-VC) via mild, short-chain fluorination, preserving its redox-active core while introducing amphiphilicity. The resulting molecule retains potent antioxidant capacity and exhibits pronounced surface activity, enabling the one-step fabrication of nanoemulsions with built-in antioxidant function-a paradigm shift from conventional inert carriers. In vitro, F-VC nanoemulsions outperform equimolar vitamin C by 43% in radical scavenging, achieve 89.4% wound closure in scratch assays, and kill up to 99% of Staphylococcus aureus. In a diabetic rat model, they drive 99% wound closure by day 14. Mechanistically, they suppress inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α) while promoting angiogenesis markers (CD31, α-SMA). By merging therapeutic and delivery functions in a single molecular entity, F-VC simplifies formulation, efficiently encapsulates diverse oil-soluble bioactives, and establishes a new class of bioactive surfactants. This work establishes a new class of bioactive surfactants-transforming vitamin C into a functional nanomaterial at the nexus of materials science and biomedicine.
PMID:
42504542
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Jul 2026.
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