title: pH-Responsive fluorescent graphene quantum dots for fluorescence-guided cancer surgery and diagnosis.
abstract: Cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Improved cancer treatment requires enhancement of cancer diagnosis and detection. To achieve this goal, here we report a novel imaging probe, pH-responsive fluorescent graphene quantum dots (pRF-GQDs). pRF-GQDs were prepared by electrolysis of graphite rods in sodium p-toluenesulfonate acetonitrile solution. The resulting pRF-GQDs, which have minimal toxicity, display a sharp fluorescence transition between green and blue at pH 6.8, a pH matching the acidic extracellular microenvironment in solid tumors. We found that this unique fluorescence switch property allows tumors to be distinguished from normal tissues. In addition to fluorescence, pRF-GQDs also exhibit upconversion photoluminescence (UCPL). We demonstrate that the combination of UCPL and fluorescence switch enables detection of solid tumors of different origin at an early developmental stage. Therefore, pRF-GQDs have great potential to be used as a universal probe for fluorescence-guided cancer surgery and cancer diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. lzfan@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zetan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Shixin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Cesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Louzhen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Jiangbing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000072283:A549 Cells; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006108:Graphite; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006108:Graphite