title: Sulfur and nitrogen binary doped carbon dots derived from ammonium thiocyanate for selective probing doxycycline in living cells and multicolor cell imaging.
abstract: A novel sulfur and nitrogen binary doped carbon dots (S,N-CDs) was synthesized by one-step manner through the hydrothermal treatment of citric acid (CA) and ammonium thiocyanate, and the procedures for biomedical applications, including probing doxycycline in living cells and multicolor cell imaging were developed. The obtained S,N-CDs are stable in aqueous solution, possess a very high quantum yield (QY, 74.15%) and good photostability. The fluorescence of S,N-CDs can be specifically quenched by doxycycline, providing a convenient turn-off assay of doxycycline. This assay shows a wide linear detection range from 0.08 to 60 μM with a low detection limit of 20 nM. The present method also displays a good selectivity. More importantly, the S,N-CDs have an excellent biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, allowing the multicolor cell imaging and doxycycline detection in living cells. Consequently, the developed doxycycline methods is facile, low-cost, biocompatible, sensitive and selective, which may hold the potential applications in the fields of food safety and environmental monitoring, as well as cancer therapy and related mechanism research.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China; Guilin Normal College, Guilin 541001, China.
authors.forename: Mingyue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China. Electronic address: liangzhang319@163.com.
authors.forename: Liangliang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China; Guilin Normal College, Guilin 541001, China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Mengbing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, China. Electronic address: zhaoshulin001@163.com.
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002470:Cell Survival; D019343:Citric Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004355:Drug Stability; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057230:Limit of Detection; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry*; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013861:Thiocyanates; D019343:Citric Acid; D013455:Sulfur; D002244:Carbon; C026976:thiocyanic acid; D004318:Doxycycline; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Doped carbon dots; Doxycycline detection; Multicolor cell imaging; Nitrogen; Sulfur