Blood compatible heteratom-doped carbon dots for bio-imaging of human umbilical vein endothelial cells

• Published in: Chinese chemical letters Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 769 - 773
• Main Authors: Zhong, Jian, Chen, Xinmian, Zhang, Miaoran, Xiao, Chaoxin, Cai, Lulu, Khan, Waleed Ali, Yu, Kaixuan, Cui, Jiayi, He, Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.03.2020; State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center, Chengdu 610041, China%Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Pharmacy, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610072, China%State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Beijing Key Laboratory of Biogas Upgrading Utilization, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China%State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center, Chengdu 610041, China; Personalized Drug Therapy Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Pharmacy, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610072, China
• Subjects: Blood compatibility; Carbon dots; Cell imaging; Erythrocyte; Fluorescent; Erythrocyte; Fluorescent; Blood compatibility; Carbon dots; Cell imaging
• ISSN: 1001-8417; 1878-5964
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2020.01.007

The green fluorescent N, S-doped carbon dots (N, S-CDs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using tobias acid and m-phenylenediamine as the precursor. Meanwhile, the S and N provided by tobias acid and m-phenylenediamine respectively endowed N, S-CDs a high quantum yield (37.2%), strong and stable photoluminescence property. The N, S-CDs not only exhibited bioimaging capacity for HUVEC cells but also showed excellent blood compatibility and biocompatibility. [Display omitted] Carbon dots have unique advantages in biological applications owing to their excellent optical properties. However, the biosafety evaluation of carbon dots has limitations owing to cytotoxicity in vitro, and there is little pre-safety evaluation before in vivo and clinical applications. Whether the carbon dots are or not suitable for applications in vivo, evaluation analysis can be made based on hemolysis and changes in erythrocyte morphology. In this work, a green fluorescent N, S-doped carbon dots (N, S-CDs) were obtained by hydrothermal method, tobias acid, and m-phenylenediamine as precursors. N, S-CDs not only possessed excellent dispersibility, uniform particle size, high quantum yield (37.2%) and stable photoluminescence property but also retain their photostability and strong fluorescence intensity in the acid/alkaline solutions, different ionic strengths (NaCl) and under 365 nm UV illumination. Moreover, the N, S-CDs displayed low cytotoxicity and high cellular uptake efficiency in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and excellent blood compatibility to the erythrocyte. It is foreseeable that N, S-CDs could be further studied as a promising biological imaging agent in vivo.