Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 1417614411, Iran; School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 1417614411, Iran.
Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2017 Oct 1;79:280-285. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2017.05.049. Epub 2017 May 11.
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are new efficient nanomaterials used in therapeutic applications. In this study, blue fluorescent nitrogen-doped GQDs (N-GQDs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method via pyrolisis of citric acid as the carbon source and urea as the nitrogen source. The existence of doped nitrogen in GQDs was confirmed by FTIR characterization. Here, for the first time, the N-GQDs were loaded with the anticancer drug, methotrexate (MTX), to prepare MTX-(N-GQDs) as an efficient drug delivery system. The establishment of the strong π-π stacking interaction between MTX and N-GQDs was confirmed by FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopies indicating successful loading of MTX to N-GQDs. The in-vitro cytotoxicity of MTX-(N-GQDs) on human breast cancer cells investigated through MTT assay suggested that the drug-free N-GQDs nanocarriers are highly biocompatible, whereas the MTX-loaded ones are more cytotoxic than the free MTX.
石墨烯量子点（GQDs）是一种新型的高效纳米材料，可用于治疗应用。在这项研究中，通过水热法在柠檬酸作为碳源和尿素作为氮源的热解过程中合成了蓝色荧光氮掺杂 GQDs（N-GQDs）。FTIR 特征证实了 GQDs 中掺杂氮的存在。在这里，首次将抗癌药物甲氨蝶呤（MTX）负载到 N-GQDs 上，制备了作为高效药物传递系统的 MTX-（N-GQDs）。FTIR 和 UV-vis 光谱证实了 MTX 与 N-GQDs 之间存在强的 π-π 堆积相互作用，表明 MTX 成功地负载到 N-GQDs 上。通过 MTT 测定法研究了 MTX-（N-GQDs）对人乳腺癌细胞的体外细胞毒性，结果表明无药物的 N-GQDs 纳米载体具有很高的生物相容性，而负载 MTX 的 N-GQDs 比游离 MTX 更具细胞毒性。
