Bioimaging supported by nanoparticles requires low cost, highly emissive and photostable systems with low cytotoxicity. Carbon dots (C-dots) offer a possible solution, even if controlling their properties is not always straightforward, not to mention their potentially simple synthesis and the fact that they do not exhibit long-term photostability in general. In the present work, we synthesized two C-dots starting from citric acid and tris (hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane (tris) or arginine methyl ester dihydrochloride. Cellular uptake and bioimaging were tested in vitro using murine neuroblastoma and ovine fibroblast cells. The C-dots are highly biocompatible, and after 24 h of incubation with the cells, 100% viability was still observed. Furthermore, the C-dots synthesized using tris have an average dimension of 2 nm, a quantum yield of 37%, high photostability and a zeta potential (ζ) around −12 mV. These properties favor cellular uptake without damaging cells and allow for very effective bioimaging.
Highly Photostable Carbon Dots from Citric Acid for Bioimaging / Fiori, F.; Moukham, H.; Olia, F.; Piras, D.; Ledda, S.; Salis, A.; Stagi, L.; Malfatti, L.; Innocenzi, P.. - In: MATERIALS. - ISSN 1996-1944. - 15:7(2022), p. 2395. [10.3390/ma15072395]
Highly Photostable Carbon Dots from Citric Acid for Bioimaging
Moukham H.;Ledda S.;Stagi L.;Malfatti L.;Innocenzi P.
2022-01-01
Abstract
Bioimaging supported by nanoparticles requires low cost, highly emissive and photostable systems with low cytotoxicity. Carbon dots (C-dots) offer a possible solution, even if controlling their properties is not always straightforward, not to mention their potentially simple synthesis and the fact that they do not exhibit long-term photostability in general. In the present work, we synthesized two C-dots starting from citric acid and tris (hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane (tris) or arginine methyl ester dihydrochloride. Cellular uptake and bioimaging were tested in vitro using murine neuroblastoma and ovine fibroblast cells. The C-dots are highly biocompatible, and after 24 h of incubation with the cells, 100% viability was still observed. Furthermore, the C-dots synthesized using tris have an average dimension of 2 nm, a quantum yield of 37%, high photostability and a zeta potential (ζ) around −12 mV. These properties favor cellular uptake without damaging cells and allow for very effective bioimaging.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.