Green synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots from spices for in vitro imaging and tumour cell growth inhibition

Carbon dots have demonstrated great potential as luminescent nanoparticles in bioapplications. Although such nanoparticles appear to exhibit low toxicity compared to other metal luminescent nanomaterials, today we know that the toxicity of carbon dots (C-dots) strongly depends on the protocol of fab...

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Published in:Beilstein journal of nanotechnology Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 530 - 544
Main Authors: Vasimalai, Nagamalai, Vilas-Boas, Vânia, Gallo, Juan, Cerqueira, María de Fátima, Menéndez-Miranda, Mario, Costa-Fernández, José Manuel, Diéguez, Lorena, Espiña, Begoña, Fernández-Argüelles, María Teresa
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Germany Beilstein-Institut zur Föerderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften 13.02.2018
Beilstein-Institut
Subjects:
bioimaging
Cancer
Carbon
Carbon dots
carbon quantum dots
Cell culture
Cell growth
Citric acid
Electron microscopy
Fluorescence
Food products
Fourier transforms
Full Research Paper
Functional groups
Hydrothermal crystal growth
Laboratories
Medical imaging
Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles
Nanoscience
Nanotechnology
Optical properties
Penicillin
Photon correlation spectroscopy
Quantum dots
Software
Spices
Synthesis
Toxicity
Tumors
Portugal
Germany
fluorescence
spices
bioimaging
carbon quantum dots
ISSN:2190-4286, 2190-4286
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Carbon dots have demonstrated great potential as luminescent nanoparticles in bioapplications. Although such nanoparticles appear to exhibit low toxicity compared to other metal luminescent nanomaterials, today we know that the toxicity of carbon dots (C-dots) strongly depends on the protocol of fabrication. In this work, aqueous fluorescent C-dots have been synthesized from cinnamon, red chilli, turmeric and black pepper, by a one-pot green hydrothermal method. The synthesized C-dots were firstly characterized by means of UV–vis, fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The optical performance showed an outstanding ability for imaging purposes, with quantum yields up to 43.6%. Thus, the cytotoxicity of the above mentioned spice-derived C-dots was evaluated in vitro in human glioblastoma cells (LN-229 cancer cell line) and in human kidney cells (HK-2 non-cancerous cell line). Bioimaging and viability studies were performed with different C-dot concentrations from 0.1 to 2 mg·mL −1 , exhibiting a higher uptake of C-dots in the cancer cultures compared to the non-cancerous cells. Results showed that the spice-derived C-dots inhibited cell viability dose-dependently after a 24 h incubation period, displaying a higher toxicity in LN-229, than in HK-2 cells. As a control, C-dots synthesized from citric acid did not show any significant toxicity in either cancerous or non-cancerous cells, implying that the tumour cell growth inhibition properties observed in the spice-derived C-dots can be attributed to the starting material employed for their fabrication. These results evidence that functional groups in the surface of the C-dots might be responsible for the selective cytotoxicity, as suggested by the presence of piperine in the surface of black pepper C-dots analysed by ESI-QTOF-MS.
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ISSN:2190-4286
2190-4286
DOI:10.3762/bjnano.9.51