Quantitative and real-time effects of carbon quantum dots on single living HeLa cell membrane permeability.
The interaction between carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and a single living cell was explored in real time. Here, we provide the quantitative data on the permeability of the HeLa cell membrane in the presence of CQDs with different surface functional groups (CQDs terminated with -OH/-COOH (CQD-OH), -PEG (CQD-PEG), and -NH2 (CQD-NH2)). Although these CQDs have very low toxicity towards HeLa cells, they still increase the cell membrane permeability by 8%, 13%, and 19% for CQD-PEG, CQD-OH, and CQD-NH2, respectively, and this kind of permeability was irreversible. These observations are valuable for promoting the bio-applications of carbon nanostructures in living systems.
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Jiangsu 215123, China. yangl@suda.edu.cn zhkang@suda.edu.cn.
Weiqian
W
Kong
Juan
J
Liu
Ruihua
R
Liu
Hao
H
Li
Yang
Y
Liu
Hui
H
Huang
Kunyang
K
Li
Jian
J
Liu
Shuit-Tong
ST
Lee
Zhenhui
Z
Kang
D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D045663:Quantum Dots / Q000737:chemistry*
D002244:Carbon