Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico.
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Centro Universitario, Querétaro 76010, Mexico.
Biomater Adv. 2023 Oct;153:213561. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2023.213561. Epub 2023 Jul 19.
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are a new carbon-based nanomaterial that has attracted tremendous attention due to their excellent fluorescent properties, chemical stability, water solubility, and biocompatibility features. Here, fluorescent CQDs synthesized by a green nanoarchitectonic method using Cinchona Pubescens Vahl extract were evaluated as drug nanocarriers for carboplatin (CBP) delivery. The characterization methods showed CQDs with semispherical shapes and sizes around 5 nm, temperature- and pH-dependent functional groups that interact with the CBP molecule adding specificity to the drug-delivery system. Based on the load efficiency results, it seems that the CQDs can carry almost 100 μg of carboplatin for every 1 mg of CQDs. This is possible due to the self-assembly process that takes place through the interaction between the protonation/deprotonation functional groups of CQDs and the hydrolyzed CBP molecule. Through this process, it is created spherical nanoparticles with an average size of 77.44 nm. The CQDs-CBP nanoparticles release the drug through a diffusion-controlled release mechanism where the acidic media is preferred, and the EPR effect also plays a helpful role. Besides, the viability test shows that the CQDs have almost null cytotoxicity suggesting that they could be used as a promising cancer treatment, improving the efficiency of cell internalization and significantly increasing their drug delivery.
碳量子点（CQDs）是一种新型碳基纳米材料，由于其优异的荧光性能、化学稳定性、水溶性和生物相容性而受到极大关注。在这里，使用金鸡纳蓬维达提取物通过绿色纳米结构方法合成的荧光 CQDs 被评估为卡铂（CBP）递送的药物纳米载体。表征方法表明 CQDs 具有半球形形状和约 5nm 的尺寸，具有温度和 pH 依赖性官能团，可与 CBP 分子相互作用，为药物传递系统增加特异性。根据负载效率结果，似乎 CQDs 可以携带几乎 100μg 的卡铂，而每 1mg 的 CQDs 则可以携带 100μg 的卡铂。这是由于自组装过程发生的，该过程通过 CQDs 的质子化/去质子化官能团与水解的 CBP 分子之间的相互作用发生。通过这个过程，形成了平均尺寸为 77.44nm 的球形纳米颗粒。CQDs-CBP 纳米颗粒通过扩散控制的释放机制释放药物，其中酸性介质是优选的，EPR 效应也发挥了有益的作用。此外，细胞活力测试表明 CQDs 几乎没有细胞毒性，这表明它们可用作有前途的癌症治疗方法，提高细胞内化效率，并显著增加药物递送。
