Synthesis of folic acid conjugated photoluminescent carbon quantum dots with ultrahigh quantum yield for targeted cancer cell fluorescence imaging

Synthesis of folic acid conjugated photoluminescent carbon quantum dots with ultrahigh quantum yield for targeted cancer cell fluorescence imaging:

Publication date: Available online 15 February 2020

Source: Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy

Author(s): Hamidreza Saljoghi, Faeze Khakbaz, Mohamad Mahani

Abstract

Folic acid functionalized carbon quantum dot (FA-CQD) with ultrahigh quantum yield (50%) were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal route using citric acid. The synthesized CQDs were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and X-ray diffraction. The cell viability of about 95% and 97% were obtained for MTT assay of the CQDs and FA-CQDs toward MCF-7 cells after 24 h of incubation respectively. The FA-CQDs were successfully applied for targeted imaging of cervical cancer (type HeLa) and human breast adenocarcinoma (type MCF7) cells using fluorescence microscope.

Graphical abstract