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Biodistribution study of carbogenic dots in cells and in vivo for optical imaging

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Abstract

Blue fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity and also for their optical imaging performance. The results showed that the C-dots could enter into the Hela cells in 15 min incubation and the uptake increased rapidly from 15 min to 2 h. In cytotoxicity study, C-dots were biocompatible and nontoxic to three human cells including two cancer cells (Hela and SMCC-7721) and one normal cell (HEK 293) in concentrations up to 500 μg/mL. Since the endocytic interference factors, including NaN3, MβCD, sucrose, and low temperature, could not play an inhibitory effect on C-dots entering into cells, the direct nonendocytic pathway for C-dots was speculated. The C-dots showed encouraging cell-imaging applications in vitro and in vivo. They entered into cells without any further functionalization, and the fluorescence property of these particles can be used for fluorescence-based cell-imaging applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Nan Li, Lili Wang & Peiyong Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Xiaofei Liang & ZongHai Li

  3. Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Yihua Zhu

  4. Department of Anesthesiology Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Jing Song

Authors
  1. Nan Li
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  2. Xiaofei Liang
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  3. Lili Wang
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  4. ZongHai Li
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  5. Peiyong Li
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  6. Yihua Zhu
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  7. Jing Song
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Correspondence to Peiyong Li.

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Li, N., Liang, X., Wang, L. et al. Biodistribution study of carbogenic dots in cells and in vivo for optical imaging. J Nanopart Res 14, 1177 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1177-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1177-x

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