Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Habitat Centre, Phase 10, Mohali, 160062, Punjab, India.
Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Habitat Centre, Phase 10, Mohali, 160062, Punjab, India.
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2021 Apr;200:111572. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2021.111572. Epub 2021 Jan 12.
Curcumin, a pleiotropic signalling molecule from Curcuma longa, is reported to be effective against multiple cancers. Despite its promising effect, curcumin had failed in clinical trials due to its low aqueous solubility, stability and poor bioavailability. While several approaches are being attempted to overcome the limitations, the improved solubility observed with curcumin-derived carbon dots appeared to be a strategy worth exploring. To assess if the carbon dots possess bio-activity similar to curcumin, we synthesized carbon dots (CurCD) from curcumin and ethylenediamine. Unlike curcumin, the as-synthesized curcumin carbon dots exhibited excellent solubility, excitation-dependent emission and photostability. The anti-cancer activity evaluated with glioblastoma cells using the well-established in vitro models indicated its comparable/enhanced activity over curcumin. Besides, the selective affinity of CurCD to the actin filament, indicated it's prospective to serve as a marker of actin filaments. In addition, the non-toxic effects observed in normal cells and fish embryos indicated CurCD was more biocompatible than curcumin. While this work reveals the superior properties of CurCD over curcumin, it provides a new approach to explore other plant derived molecules with similar limitations like curcumin.
姜黄素是姜黄中的一种多效信号分子，据报道对多种癌症有效。尽管姜黄素具有很有前景的效果，但由于其低水溶性、稳定性和差的生物利用度，它在临床试验中失败了。虽然正在尝试几种方法来克服这些限制，但观察到的姜黄素衍生碳点提高的溶解度似乎是一种值得探索的策略。为了评估碳点是否具有与姜黄素相似的生物活性，我们用姜黄素和乙二胺合成了碳点（CurCD）。与姜黄素不同，合成的姜黄素碳点表现出优异的溶解性、激发依赖性发射和光稳定性。使用已建立的体外模型评估姜黄素碳点对神经胶质瘤细胞的抗癌活性表明，其活性与姜黄素相当/增强。此外，CurCD 对肌动蛋白丝的选择性亲和力表明它有望成为肌动蛋白丝的标记物。此外，在正常细胞和鱼类胚胎中观察到的无毒作用表明 CurCD 比姜黄素更具生物相容性。虽然这项工作揭示了 CurCD 优于姜黄素的特性，但它为探索具有类似姜黄素限制的其他植物来源分子提供了一种新方法。
