Erlotinib Conjugated Nitrogen Doped Carbon Nanodots for Targeted Fluorescence Imaging of Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells

• Published in: ChemistrySelect (Weinheim) Vol. 5; no. 29; pp. 9269 - 9276
• Main Authors: Anjali Devi, Jayaraj S., Aparna, Ravindran S., Anjana, Reghunathan R., Madanan Anju, S., George, Sony
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 07.08.2020
• Subjects: Cancer; Carbon nanomaterials; Fluorescence; J- and H- aggregate; Photochemistry
• ISSN: 2365-6549; 2365-6549
• DOI: 10.1002/slct.202002095

Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer‐related death in the world due to non‐specific symptoms at early stages and late diagnosis. In this article, we report the use of nitrogen doped carbon nanodots (NCD) as fluorescent contrast agents for in vitro imaging of live pancreatic cancer cells. The surface of these NCDs was functionalised with tyrosine kinase inhibitor type anticancer drug named erlotinib. This targeting ligand enables specific in vitro targeting of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpressed human pancreatic cancer cell lines (PANC‐1). The receptor‐mediated fluorescence staining with targeted NCD was further tested by monitoring in vitro targeting in L929 mouse fibroblast cells with normal EGFR expression. The confocal fluorescence microscopic images show uniform fluorescence staining on PANC‐1 cells and a localised fluorescence staining on the central region of normal L929 cells. The fluorescence stability of targeted NCD even after conjugation with bovine serum albumin proved its potential for cellular imaging. Targeted fluorescence imaging contrast agents based on nitrogen doped carbon nanodots (NCD) are tested for its potential in vitro imaging of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) over‐expressed human pancreatic cancer cells. Confocal fluorescence imaging of EGFR in cells show uniform fluorescence staining on human pancreatic cancer cells and localised fluorescence staining on the central region of L929 mouse fibroblast cells.