Targeted therapy for the treatment of gliomas with multifunctional orange emissive carbon dots

The applications of carbon dots in oral health: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the research and potential applications of carbon dots (CDs) for oral health purposes.

DESIGN

Systematic literature searches were performed on PubMed and Web of Science databases (up to February 2023). Two co-authors selected the published works independently and extracted the data in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Studies with the application of CDs for oral health purposes were included.

RESULTS

Among 152 articles, 19 articles were finally selected. Eight studies investigated the anti-microbial effects of CDs against, for example, oral pathogens, eight studies explored the applicability of CDs in relation to oral cancer, and three studies investigated CDs in relation to cell differentiation and tissue regeneration in oral health. The studies showed the promising potential of CDs in oral health, particularly for inducing bacterial killing by increasing reactive oxygen species, killing oral cancer cells via photodynamic therapeutic effects, and inducing dental pulp and periodontal bone regeneration.

CONCLUSION

The findings show that CDs have the potential to be utilized in the future for various oral health purposes. Besides, these results underline the broad-spectrum applicability of CDs, crossing the borders of oral health.

Carbon dots with selective fluorescence response to hydroxyl radical for sensitive detection of bleomycin

In this work, antioxidant carbon dots (ACDs) with high quantum yield (63.98%) were developed through a one-step strategy using citric acid, ethylenediamine, and L-arginine as sources. The ACDs demonstrated excellent in vitro antioxidant activity. Additionally, ACDs displayed a unique fluorescence response to hydroxyl radical (OH). Leveraging this distinctive feature, a selective and sensitive fluorescence-based sensor was developed for detecting bleomycin (BLM) in the presence of ferrous ions (Fe2+). The studies on the oxidizing properties and dynamic quenching mechanism of ACDs by OH suggested that OH reduced the contents of the amino and hydroxyl groups of ACDs, leading to a decreased electron cloud density of ACDs for dynamic quenching of ACDs. Under optimally refined conditions, the detection limit of this strategy for BLM was 0.58 μg/mL, with a linear range spanning from 1 to 24 μg/mL when employing ACDs as the probe. This fluorescence sensing strategy provides a promising method for the detection of BLM in clinical samples.

Recent advances in glucose oxidase-based nanocarriers for tumor targeting therapy

Glucose oxidase (GOx) can specifically catalyze the conversion of β-d-glucose into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the presence of oxygen, making it promising for tumor starvation therapy and oxidative therapy. However, GOx's immunogenicity, poor in vivo stability, short half-life, and potential systemic toxicity, limit its application in cancer therapy. Nanocarriers are capable of improving the pharmacological properties of therapeutic drugs (e.g. stability, circulating half-life, and tumor accumulation) and lower toxicity, hence resolving GOx issues and enhancing its efficacy. Although the application of targeted nanocarriers based on GOx has recently flourished, this field has not yet been reviewed and evaluated. Herein, we initially examined the mechanism of GOx-based nanocarriers for enhanced tumor therapy. Also, we present a comprehensive and up-to-date review that highlights GOx-based nanocarriers for tumor targeting therapy. This review expands on GOx-based nano-targeted combination therapies from both passive and active targeting perspectives, meanwhile, active targeting is further classified into ligand-mediated targeting and physical-mediated targeting. Furthermore, this review also emphasizes the present challenges and promising advancements.

Recent Advances in Carbon Dots for In Vitro/Vivo Fluorescent Bioimaging: A Mini-Review

As a new type of “zero-dimensional” fluorescent carbon nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have some unique optical and chemical properties, they are being explored for a variety of applications in bio-related fields, such as bioimaging, biosensors, and therapy. This review mainly summarizes the recent progress of CDs in bioimaging. The overview of this review can be roughly divided into two categories: (1) In vitro bioimaging based on CDs in different cells and important organelles. (2) The distribution, imaging and application of CDs in mice and zebrafish. In addition, this review also points out the potential advantages and future development directions of CDs for bioimaging, which may promote the development of CDs in the field of bioimaging.