Issue 13, 2013

Extremely high inhibition activity of photoluminescent carbon nanodots toward cancer cells

Abstract

Highly water-soluble, biocompatible, and photoluminescent carbon nanodots (C-dots) having an average diameter 3.4 ± 0.8 nm and a quantum yield 4.3% are obtained from used green tea through grinding, calcination and centrifugation. The as-prepared C-dots are stable in high-ionic-strength media (e.g. 500 mM NaCl) and under light irradiation, allowing images of MCF-10A, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells to be recorded. The C-dots are mostly localized in the cell membranes and cytoplasms, with evidence of excitation-wavelength cell images. Relative to catechin, the C-dots provide greater inhibition efficiency of the growth of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, with lower toxicity for the MCF-10A normal cells. The inhibitory activity of C-dots is associated with the generation of greater amounts of reactive oxygen species. A prothrombin time (PT) assay of plasma samples reveals excellent biocompatibility of the C-dots. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time the C-dots provide inhibition efficiencies up to 80% and 82% for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, respectively, showing their high potential as cancer inhibitors.

Graphical abstract: Extremely high inhibition activity of photoluminescent carbon nanodots toward cancer cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
19 Dec 2012
Accepted
07 Feb 2013
First published
08 Feb 2013

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013,1, 1774-1781

Extremely high inhibition activity of photoluminescent carbon nanodots toward cancer cells

P. Hsu, P. Chen, C. Ou, H. Chang and H. Chang, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013, 1, 1774 DOI: 10.1039/C3TB00545C

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