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Hollow carbon dots labeled with FITC or TRITC for use in fluorescent cellular imaging

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Abstract

Hollow carbon dots (HCDs) were prepared by a solvothermal method and conjugated to either tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC) or fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate (FITC). This resulted in HCDs with bright red or green fluorescence, with excitation/emission peaks at 550/580 and 491/520 nm, respectively. The nanocomposites are well water-soluble, remarkably photostable and biocompatible. In addition, the fluorescence of the composites is more stable in a reactive oxygen environment than the free dyes. Confocal images indicate that the nanoparticles quickly enter A549 cells and mainly accumulate in the cytoplasm. The wavelength of functionalized HCDs can be regulating via coupling the HCDs to different dyes. These results demonstrate that these composite materials can be very promising reagents for biological labeling and imaging.

Schematic of the preparation of hollow carbon dots conjugated to tetramethyl rhodamine isothiocyanate (RHCDs) by solvothermal method. The material is water-soluble, remarkably photostable and biocompatible. It was applied to cellular labeling and imaging.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Scientific Program Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (No. 2011CB933600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21405124).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, People’s Republic of China

    Menghuan Tang, Ping Teng, Yijuan Long, Xiliang Wang, Liping Liang, Dongjun Shen, Jie Wang & Huzhi Zheng

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  1. Menghuan Tang
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  2. Ping Teng
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Correspondence to Huzhi Zheng.

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Tang, M., Teng, P., Long, Y. et al. Hollow carbon dots labeled with FITC or TRITC for use in fluorescent cellular imaging. Microchim Acta 185, 223 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-2761-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-018-2761-2

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