PUBLICATION

Carbon dots: promising biomaterials for bone-specific imaging and drug delivery

Authors
Peng, Z., Miyanji, E.H., Zhou, Y., Pardo, J., Hettiarachchi, S.D., Li, S., Blackwelder, P.L., Skromne, I., Leblanc, R.M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-181220-15
Date
2017
Source
Nanoscale   9: 17533-17543 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Skromne, Isaac
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Biocompatible Materials/chemistry*
  • Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging*
  • Carbon/chemistry*
  • Drug Carriers/chemistry*
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Quantum Dots*
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
29110000 Full text @ Nanoscale
Abstract
Bone-related diseases and dysfunctions are heavy burdens on our increasingly aged society. One important strategy to relieve this problem is through early detection and treatment of bone-related diseases. Towards this goal, there has been constant interest in developing novel bone-specific materials for imaging and drug delivery. Currently, however, materials that have high affinity and specificity towards bone are very limited. Carbon dots (C-dots) synthesized from carbon nanopowder bind to calcified bones in vivo with high affinity and specificity. In this study we show that bone binding is highly unique to a specific type of C-dot, and that this binding is non-toxic. Significantly, C-dots derived from other raw materials did not show any bone binding properties. These differences are attributed to the differences in surface chemistry of C-dot preparations, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of C-dots. Importantly, bone-binding by carbon nanopowder derived C-dots is not significantly altered by chemical functionalization of their surface. These unique properties indicate the potential applications of carbon nanopowder-derived C-dots as highly bone-specific bioimaging agents and drug carriers.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping