الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Inspired by the circular economy, to reduce costs and waste, we reused chicken blood as a bio-waste carbon source to synthesize Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) and nitrogen-doped CQDs (N-CQDs) by using a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared CQDs and N-CQDs showed an average particle size of " ~ "2.3 nm and " ~ "4.9 nm, respectively. Both CQDs and N-CQDs exhibited extraordinary properties such as high photoluminescence quantum yield values of 33% and 70%, respectively, and tunable excitation-dependent emission. This opens the door for applications in biomedical and bio-sensing. Advancements in nano-sciences for advanced and developed diagnosis and personalized therapy of various complex diseases (especially, cancers) are of contemporary interest. Indeed, CQDs show significant potential in such biomedical and bio-imaging applications. Innovative multi-functional systems are urgently needed to overcome the invasiveness of various types of cancer including (non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and breast cancer, as they are the most widespread subtypes of cancer with poor diagnosis and therapy. In the current study, N-CQDs exhibited high toxicity on both the A549 lung cancer cell line and MCF-7 breast cancer cell line compared to CQDs alone at serial concentrations (0.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000 μg/mL). In order to increase their localization in a specific tumor site, folic acid was used to raise their functional folate recognition. The apoptotic feature of A549 lung cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells exposed to N-CQDs and FA-NCQDs was characterized by a light orange-red color under fluorescence microscopy. Additionally, much nuclear fragmentation and condensation were seen. The functionalization of CQDs derived from natural sources has proven their potential application to fight off non-small lung cancer and breast cancer. |