Oxidative stress can lead to permanent and irreversible damage for cellular components, and even cause cancer and many diseases. Therefore, the development of antioxidative reagents is a significant strategy for alleviating chronic diseases and maintaining the redox balance. Small-molecule bioactive compounds have exhibited huge therapeutic potential in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Myricetin (Myr) as well-defined natural flavonoid, has drawn wide attention on highly effective antioxidant,

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... anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. Especially at antioxidation, Myr is capable of not only chelating intracellular transition metal ions for removing reactive oxygen species (ROS), but also activating antioxidant enzymes and related signal, achieving sustainable scavenging radical activity. However, Myr possesses poor water solubility, which limits its bioavailability for biomedical application, even clinical therapeutic potential. The endogenous antioxidant peptide glutathione (GSH) plays a direct role on antioxidant in cells and possesses good hydrophilicity and biocompatibility, but is easily metabolized by enzyme. To take advantages of their antioxidation activity and overcome the above-mentioned limitations, the GSH, Zn2+ and Myr are selected to co-assemble into Myr-Zn2+-GSH (abbreviated as MZG nanoparticles or nanoarchitectonics). Thence, this study offers a new design to harness stable, sustainable antioxidant nanoparticles with high loading capacity and bioavailability, good biocompatibility for optimizing antioxidant to protect cells from oxygenated damage.