Synthesis of Luminescent Carbon Dots with Ultrahigh Quantum Yield and Inherent Folate Receptor-Positive Cancer Cell Targetability

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 1086 - 8
• Main Authors: Liu, Haifang, Li, Zhaohui, Sun, Yuanqiang, Geng, Xin, Hu, Yalei, Meng, Hongmin, Ge, Jia, Qu, Lingbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 18.01.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/19; 639/301/357/354; 639/925/357/551; Antineoplastic Agents - chemical synthesis; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Biocompatibility; Cancer; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; Cell Line, Tumor; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes - chemical synthesis; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Fluorescent Dyes - pharmacology; Fluorescent indicators; Folate Receptors, GPI-Anchored - metabolism; Folic acid; Folic Acid - chemistry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; Nanomaterials; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology; Nitrogen; Quantum dots; Quantum Dots - chemistry; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Tumor cells; Vibration; Vitamin B; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-19373-3

Carbon dots (CDs) have a wide range of applications in chemical, physical and biomedical research fields. We are particularly interested in the use of CDs as fluorescence nanomaterials for targeted tumor cell imaging. One of the important aspects of success is to enhance the fluorescence quantum yields (QY) of CDs as well as increase their targetability to tumor cells. However, most of the reported CDs are limited by relative low QY. In the current study, for the first time, one-step synthesis of highly luminescent CDs by using folic acid (FA) as single precursor was obtained in natural water through hydrothermal method. The as-prepared CDs exhibited QY as high as 94.5% in water, which is even higher than most of organic fluorescent dyes. The obtained CDs showed excellent photoluminescent activity, high photostability and favorable biocompatibility. The FA residuals in CDs led to extraordinary targetability to cancer cells and promoted folate receptor-mediated cellular uptake successfully, which holds a great potential in biological and bioimaging studies.