title: Effect of injection routes on the biodistribution, clearance, and tumor uptake of carbon dots.
abstract: The emergence of photoluminescent carbon-based nanomaterials has shown exciting potential in the development of benign nanoprobes. However, the in vivo kinetic behaviors of these particles that are necessary for clinical translation are poorly understood to date. In this study, fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) were synthesized and the effect of three injection routes on their fate in vivo was explored by using both near-infrared fluorescence and positron emission tomography imaging techniques. We found that C-dots are efficiently and rapidly excreted from the body after all three injection routes. The clearance rate of C-dots is ranked as intravenous > intramuscular > subcutaneous. The particles had relatively low retention in the reticuloendothelial system and showed high tumor-to-background contrast. Furthermore, different injection routes also resulted in different blood clearance patterns and tumor uptakes of C-dots. These results satisfy the need for clinical translation and should promote efforts to further investigate the possibility of using carbon-based nanoprobes in a clinical setting. More broadly, we provide a testing blueprint for in vivo behavior of nanoplatforms under various injection routes, an important step forward toward safety and efficacy analysis of nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine (LOMIN), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Xinglu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ki Young
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jinxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tackett
authors.forename: Parambath
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anilkumar
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qimeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Hak Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Seulki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008422:Materials Testing; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D054118:Nanospheres; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D045663:Quantum Dots; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon