National Nanotechnology Laboratory for Agribusiness (LNNA), Embrapa Instrumentação, São Carlos, SP 13560-970, Brazil; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Helmholtz Institute of Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 20, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Institute for Pathology, Electron Microscopy Facility, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse, 30, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2021 Oct;129:112409. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2021.112409. Epub 2021 Sep 2.
This study reports the generation of curauá-derived carbon dots (C-dots) and their suitability for Fe(III) detection, bioimaging and FACS analysis. C-dots were generated from curauá (Ananas erectifolius) fibers by a facile one-step hydrothermal approach. They exhibited graphite-like structure with a mean diameter of 2.4 nm, high water solubility, high levels of carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups, excitation-dependent multicolor fluorescence emission (in the range 450 nm - 560 nm) and superior photostability. C-dots were highly selective and effective for the detection of ferric Fe(III) ion in an aqueous medium with a detection limit of 0.77 μM in the linear range of 0-30 μM, a value much lower than the guideline limits proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In biological cell systems, C-dots were very well tolerated by B16F1 mouse melanoma and J774.A1 mouse macrophages cell lines, both of which effectively internalized C-dots in their cytoplasmic compartment. Finally, C-dots were effective probes for long-term live cell imaging experiments and multi-channel flow cytometry analysis. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that curauá-derived C-dots serve as versatile and effective natural products for Fe(III) ion sensing, labeling and bioimaging of various cell types. This study adds novel C-dots to the library of carbon-based probes and paves the way towards a sustainable conversion of a most abundant biomass waste into value-added products.
本研究报告了从 Curauá（Ananas erectifolius）纤维中通过简便的一步水热法生成的 Curauá 衍生碳点（C-dots），及其在 Fe(III)检测、生物成像和 FACS 分析中的适用性。C-dots 具有石墨状结构，平均直径为 2.4nm，具有高水溶性、高羧基和羟基官能团含量、激发依赖性多色荧光发射（在 450nm-560nm 范围内）和卓越的光稳定性。C-dots 对水溶液中的 Fe(III)离子具有高度选择性和有效性，检测限为 0.77μM，在 0-30μM 的线性范围内，这远低于世界卫生组织（WHO）提出的指导限值。在生物细胞系统中，C-dots 被 B16F1 小鼠黑色素瘤和 J774.A1 小鼠巨噬细胞系很好地耐受，这两种细胞都有效地将 C-dots 内化到细胞质中。最后，C-dots 是用于长期活细胞成像实验和多通道流式细胞术分析的有效探针。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，Curauá 衍生的 C-dots 是多功能且有效的天然产物，可用于 Fe(III)离子传感、各种细胞类型的标记和生物成像。这项研究为基于碳的探针库增添了新型 C-dots，并为将最丰富的生物质废物转化为增值产品铺平了道路。
