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Synthesis of Multi-Functional Carbon Quantum Dots for Targeted Antitumor Therapy

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Abstract

Carbon dots are nano-sized photoluminescence materials which have good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, while the previously synthesized carbon dots lack tumor targeting capability and therapy function so that it cannot achieve the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. Herein, a new kind of multi-functional carbon dots (GFCDs) is promising to be applied in tumor cells imaging and clinical targeted therapy. Gallic acid (GA) was used as the carbon resource and antitumor active molecule, folic acid (FA) was used as the nitrogen resource and tumor targeting molecule, and citric acid monohydrate (CA) was used as the auxiliary carbon source. Multi-functional GACDs were synthesized by a simple one-step microwave-assisted procedure and analyzed with UV − vis spectrophotometer, fourier transform infrared spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. Results show that the diameter of GFCDs is about 3 nm. And GFCDs are pale-yellow under natural light which turn blue under 360 nm UV lamp. Besides ester bond is the connecting mode between functional molecules. In addition, the results of in vitro cell imaging experiments and in vivo antitumor experiments demonstrate the targeting imaging and antitumor abilities towards Hela cells.

Graphical abstract

The synthesis route and properties of GFCDs.

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Data Availability

The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing study.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China (E2018002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51403030), and the University-Student Innovative Experiment Project Fund Support for Northeast Forestry University (No. 202010225066).

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  1. Rongyao Lv and Genrong Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Resource Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, Heilongjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Rongyao Lv, Shuting Lu & Ting Wang

  2. Chongqing Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Chongqing, 401123, People’s Republic of China

    Genrong Li

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  1. Rongyao Lv
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  2. Genrong Li
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Genrong Li: Conceptualization, Methodology. Rongyao Lv: Data curation, Writing- Original draft preparation. Shuting Lu: Investigation. Ting Wang: Writing - Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Ting Wang.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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All animal studies were conducted according to the Guidelines for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Harbin Medical University and approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Harbin Medical University.

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Lv, R., Li, G., Lu, S. et al. Synthesis of Multi-Functional Carbon Quantum Dots for Targeted Antitumor Therapy. J Fluoresc 31, 339–348 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02661-5

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