Cationic carbon quantum dots derived from alginate for gene delivery: One-step synthesis and cellular uptake
Cationic carbon quantum dots derived from alginate for gene delivery: One-step synthesis and cellular uptake
复制标题
来自藻酸盐的用于基因传递的阳离子碳量子点：一步合成和细胞摄取
DOI：
10.1016/j.actbio.2016.06.021
复制
发表时间：
2016-09-15
影响因子：
9.7
通讯作者：
Xu, Ximing
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zhou, Jie;Deng, Wenwen;Xu, Ximing
与半导体量子点不同，碳量子点具有良好的生物相容性、优良的上转换性能、高的光稳定性和低毒性。本文报道了以海藻酸盐、3%过氧化氢和双蒸馏水为原料，通过简单、环保、廉价的一步水热碳化工艺制备多功能CQDs。在该反应中，海藻酸盐既是碳源又是阳离子化剂。所制备的CQDs具有强而稳定的荧光，具有水分散和带正电的特性，可作为优良的DNA凝聚体。作为首次使用的非病毒基因载体，CQDs具有相当高的转染效率（与Lipofectamine2000相当，显著高于PEI， p < 0.05），毒性可忽略不计。CQDs的光致发光特性也可以很容易地跟踪细胞摄取。研究结果表明，CQDs/pDNA复合物的内化过程中均有微泡和网格蛋白介导的内吞途径参与。综上所述，海藻酸盐衍生的光致发光CQDs由于其作为高效的非病毒基因载体和生物成像探针的双重作用，在生物医学应用中具有巨大的潜力。本文描述了一种简单易行的一步水热碳化方法，以海藻酸盐为原料制备光可调谐的光致发光碳量子点（CQDs）。这些CQDs具有低细胞毒性，正zeta电位，卓越的聚合大分子DNA的能力，最重要的是具有显著的高转染效率。有趣的发现是，带负电的藻酸盐可以在不添加任何阳离子试剂的情况下转化为带正电的CQDs。本研究的意义在于，阳离子碳量子点同时具有非病毒基因载体和生物成像探针的双重作用，在基因治疗、药物传递、生物成像等诸多领域的应用都是非常理想的。(C) 2016材料学报Elsevier Ltd.出版。版权所有。
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs), unlike semiconductor quantum dots, possess fine biocompatibility, excellent upconversion properties, high photostability and low toxicity. Here, we report multifunctional CQDs which were developed using alginate, 3% hydrogen peroxide and double distilled water through a facile, eco-friendly and inexpensive one-step hydrothermal carbonization route. In this reaction, the alginate served as both the carbon source and the cationization agent. The resulting CQDs exhibited strong and stable fluorescence with water-dispersible and positively-charged properties which could serve as an excellent DNA condensation. As non-viral gene vector being used for the first time, the CQDs showed considerably high transfection efficiency (comparable to Lipofectamine2000 and significantly higher than PEI, p < 0.05) and negligible toxicity. The photoluminescence properties of CQDs also permitted easy tracking of the cellular-uptake. The findings showed that both caveolae- and clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathways were involved in the internalization process of CQDs/pDNA complexes. Taken together, the alginate-derived photoluminescent CQDs hold great potential in biomedical applications due to their dual role as efficient non-viral gene vectors and bioimaging probes.Statement of SignificanceThis manuscript describes a facile and simple one-step hydrothermal carbonization route for preparing optically tunable photoluminescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from a novel raw material, alginate. These CQDs enjoy low cytotoxicity, positive zeta potential, excellent ability to condense macromolecular DNA, and most importantly, notably high transfection efficiency. The interesting finding is that the negatively-charged alginate can convert into positively charged CQDs without adding any cationic reagents. The significance of this study is that the cationic carbon quantum dots play dual roles as both non-viral gene vectors and bioimaging probes at the same time, which are most desirable in many fields of applications such as gene therapy, drug delivery, and bioimaging. (C) 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.