title: A simple one-step method to prepare fluorescent carbon dots and their potential application in non-invasive glioma imaging.
abstract: Fluorescent carbon dots (CD) possess impressive potential in bioimaging because of their low photobleaching, absence of optical blinking and good biocompatibility. However, their relatively short excitation/emission wavelengths restrict their application in in vivo imaging. In the present study, a kind of CD was prepared by a simple heat treatment method using glycine as the only precursor. The diameter of CD was lower than 5 nm, and the highest emission wavelength was 500 nm. However, at 600 nm, there was still a relatively strong fluorescent emission, suggesting CD could be used for in vivo imaging. Additionally, several experiments demonstrated that CD possessed good serum stability and low cytotoxicity. In vitro, CD could be taken up into C6 glioma cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, with both endosomes and mitochondria involved. In vivo, CD could be used for non-invasive glioma imaging because of its high accumulation in the glioma site of the brain, which was demonstrated by both in vivo imaging and ex vivo tissue imaging. Furthermore, the fluorescent distribution in tissue slices also showed CD distributed in glioma with high intensity, while with a low intensity in normal brain tissue. In conclusion, CD were prepared using a simple method with relatively long excitation and emission wavelengths and could be used for non-invasive glioma imaging.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Drug Targeting and Drug Delivery Systems, West China School of Pharmacy, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 17, Block 3, Southern Renmin Road, 610041, Chengdu, China. gaohuile@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shaobo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xinguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Huile
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010316:Particle Size; D045663:Quantum Dots; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D002244:Carbon