title: Biodegradable Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanodots for Non-Invasive Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy.
abstract: Multifunctional nanoparticles have been widely investigated for biomedical applications, such as imaging, therapy, and drug delivery. Especially, photoactive nanoparticles have received great attention as theranostic agents because of their heat-generating abilities after exposure to laser irradiation. However, photostability and safety issues have been the technical hurdles for further clinical applications. Here, we designed nitrogen (N)-doped carbon nanodots (N-CNDs) that have strong absorption in the near-infrared region, high photostability, and excellent biodegradability. Optimized N-CNDs can be utilized not only as a new photoacoustic (PA) imaging agent but also as a superior photothermal therapy (PTT) agentin vivobecause of their strong optical absorption at a specific wavelength. We used N-CNDs to performin vivo/ex vivononinvasive PA imaging of sentinel lymph nodes via local delivery and performed PTT for cancer ablation therapy. Finally, biodegradation and renal clearance were confirmed by performing whole-body PA monitoring and a degradation test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea;; Current address: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Changho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Sookmyung Women's University, 100 Cheongpa-ro 47-gil, Seoul 04310, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woosung
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Science Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Songeun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beack
authors.affiliation: Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Donghyun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yoonsang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Science Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyemin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Science Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sei Kwang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Sookmyung Women's University, 100 Cheongpa-ro 47-gil, Seoul 04310, South Korea;; Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Shi-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea.
authors.forename: Chulhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D055011:Ablation Techniques; D000818:Animals; D002244:Carbon / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques; D000068936:Theranostic Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Biodegradation.; Carbon nanodot; Nitrogen doping; Photoacoustic; Photothermal