Carbon dots from Artemisiae Argyi Folium Carbonisata: strengthening the anti-frostbite ability

Heteroatom-doped carbon dots from medicinal plants as novel biomaterials for as-use biomedical applications in comparison with synthetic drug, zaltoprofen

FN-doped carbon dots were synthesized using powdered leaves of Moringa oleifera L./Chromolaena odorata L./Tridax procumbens L./Tinospora cordifolia L./ and Lantana camara L., along with a precursor called 4,5-difluoro-1,2-benzenediamine (DFBD) and compared against the drug zaltoprofen derived carbon dots. They were assessed for their optical and structural characteristics using photoluminescence (optimal emission λ of 600 nm), vibrational (FTIR) spectroscopy (characteristic wave numbers of 1156 and 1269 cm-1 for C-F), as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) (highest intensity at 27.56°) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) (particles in the size range of 15-20 nm). Further, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) / energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) indicated FN doping of oval/oblong carbon dots. Membrane protection in percent is found to be 55.3 and 80.4 for FN-CDs and Z-FN-CDs respectively. The DPPH-free radical scavenging activity by FN-CDs was 69.4%, while with Z-FN-CDs, it was 54.2%. When tested on six bacterial strains (three each for gram-positive and gram-negative), the FN-CDs displayed a halo (ZOI) between 9 and 19 mm, whereas the Z-FN-CDs displayed a clearance zone between 9 and 17 mm. The FN-CDs showed significant emission-red-shift effects and demonstrated concentration-dependent biocompatibility and viability in neuroblastoma and beta-TC6-cell lines.

Bio-soft matter derived from traditional Chinese medicine: Characterizations of hierarchical structure, assembly mechanism, and beyond

Structural and functional explorations on bio-soft matter such as micelles, vesicles, nanoparticles, aggregates or polymers derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has emerged as a new topic in the field of TCM. The discovery of such cross-scaled bio-soft matter may provide a unique perspective for unraveling the new effective material basis of TCM as well as developing innovative medicine and biomaterials. Despite the rapid rise of TCM-derived bio-soft matter, their hierarchical structure and assembly mechanism must be unambiguously probed for a further in-depth understanding of their pharmacological activity. In this review, the current emerged TCM-derived bio-soft matter assembled from either small molecules or macromolecules is introduced, and particularly the unambiguous elucidation of their hierarchical structure and assembly mechanism with combined electron microscopic and spectroscopic techniques is depicted. The pros and cons of each technique are also discussed. The future challenges and perspective of TCM-derived bio-soft matter are outlined, particularly the requirement for their precise in situ structural determination is highlighted.

Potential Efficacy of Herbal Medicine-Derived Carbon Dots in the Treatment of Diseases: From Mechanism to Clinic

Carbon dots (CDs), a crucial component of nanomaterials, are zero-dimensional nanomaterials with carbon as the backbone structure and smaller than 10 nm. Due to their beneficial characteristics, they are widely used in biomedical fields such as biosensors, drug delivery, bio-imaging, and interactions with DNA. Interestingly, a novel type of carbon dot, generated by using herbal medicines as synthetic raw materials, has emerged as the most recent incomer in the family of CDs with the extensive growth in the number of materials selected for carbon dots synthesis. Herbal medicine-derived carbon dots (HM-CDs) have been employed in the biomedical industry, and are rapidly emerging as "modern nanomaterials" due to their unique structures and exceptional capabilities. Emerging trends suggest that their specific properties can be used in bleeding disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, inflammation-related diseases, and other common intractable diseases including cancer, menopausal syndrome, central nervous system disorders, and pain of various forms and causes. In addition, HM-CDs have been found to have organ-protective and antioxidant properties, as evidenced by extensive studies. This research provides a more comprehensive understanding of the biomedical applications of HM-CDs for the aforementioned disorders and investigates the intrinsic pharmacological activities and mechanisms of these HM-CDs to further advance their clinical applications.

Carbon Dots Derived from Traditional Chinese Medicines with Bioactivities: A Rising Star in Clinical Treatment

In the field of carbon nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have become a preferable choice in biomedical applications. Based on the concept of green chemistry, CDs derived from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have attracted extensive attention, including TCM charcoal drugs, TCM extracts, and TCM small molecules. The design and preparation of CDs from TCMs (TCMs-CDs) can improve the inherent characteristics of TCMs, such as solubility, particle size distribution, and so on. Compared with other precursor materials, TCMs-CDs have outstanding intrinsic bioactivities and potential pharmacological effects. However, the research of TCMs-CDs in biomedicine is not comprehensive, and their mechanisms have not been understood deeply either. In this review, we will provide concise insights into the recent development of TCMs-CDs, with a major focus on their preparation, formation, precursors, and bioactivities. Then we will discuss the perfect transformation from TCMs to TCMs-CDs. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for the application of TCMs-CDs in clinical treatment.

Nanostructures in Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) for potential therapy

With its long clinical history, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has gained acceptance for its specific efficacy and safety in the treatment of multiple diseases. Nano-sized materials study of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) leads to an increased understanding of assessing TCM therapies, which may be a promising way to illustrate the material basis of CHMs through their processing and extraction. In this review, we provide an overview of the nanostructures of natural and engineered CHMs, including extracted CHMs, polymer nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, and nanofibers. Subsequently, the applications of these CHM-derived nanostructures to particular diseases are summarized and discussed. Additionally, we discuss the advantages of these nanostructures for studying the therapeutic efficacy of CHMs. Finally, the key challenges and opportunities for the development of these nanostructures are outlined.

Green synthetic natural carbon dots derived from Fuligo Plantae with inhibitory effect against alcoholic gastric ulcer

Introduction: Fuligo Plantae (FP), the ash that sticks to the bottom of pots or chimneys after weeds burn, has long been used for its hemostatic effects and treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding. Nevertheless, the active ingredient of FP still needs to be further explored. Methods: The microstructure, optical and chemical properties of FP-CDs were characterized. An alcohol-induced gastric ulcer model was utilized to evaluate whether pre-administration of FP-CDs alleviated gastric bleeding symptoms and ameliorated gastric mucosal barrier disruption. In addition, the feces of each group of rats were extracted for 16S rDNA genome sequencing of intestinal flora. Results: FP-CDs with a diameter ranging from 1.4-3.2 nm had abundant chemical groups, which may be beneficial to the exertion of inherent activity. FP-CDs alleviated alcohol-induced gastric ulcer, as demonstrated by activating the extrinsic coagulation pathway, alleviating inflammation, and suppressing oxidative stress levels. More interestingly, FP-CDs can improve the diversity and dysbiosis of intestinal flora in rats with alcohol-induced gastric ulcer. Conclusion: These comes about illustrate the momentous inhibitory effects of FP-CDs on alcoholic gastric ulcer in rats, which give a modern methodology for investigating the effective ingredient of FP, and lay an experimental basis for the application of FP-CDs in the clinical treatment of alcoholic gastric ulcer.

Carbon Dots for the Treatment of Inflammatory Diseases: An Appraisal of In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

In recent decades, several studies demonstrating various applications of carbon dots (C-dots), including metal sensing, bioimaging, pH sensing, and antimicrobial activities, have been published. Recent developments have shifted this trend toward biomedical applications that target various biomarkers relevant to chronic diseases. However, relevant developments and research results regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of C-dots against inflammation-associated diseases have not been systematically reviewed. Hence, this review discusses the anti-inflammatory effects of C-dots in in vivo and in vitro models of LPS-induced inflammation, gout, cartilage tissue engineering, drug-induced inflammation, spinal cord injury, wound healing, liver diseases, stomach cancer, gastric ulcers, acute kidney and lung injury, psoriasis, fever or hypothermia, and bone tissue regeneration. The compiled studies demonstrate the promising potential of C-dots as anti-inflammatory agents for the development of new drugs.

A Novel Drug with Potential to Treat Hyperbilirubinemia and Prevent Liver Damage Induced by Hyperbilirubinemia: Carbon Dots Derived from Platycodon grandiflorum

Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) is a traditional Chinese medicine with a long history, but its active compounds have not been reported. In this study, novel carbon dots (CDs), PG-based CDs (PGC-CDs), were discovered and prepared from PG via calcinations and characterized by transmission electron microscopy; high-resolution transmission electron microscopy; X-ray diffraction, fluorescence, ultraviolet-visible, and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometers; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; and high-performance liquid chromatography. In addition, the safety and antioxidant activity of PGC-CDs was evaluated by RAW264.7 cells and LO2 cells. The therapeutic effects of PGC-CDs on hyperbilirubinemia and liver protection were evaluated in a bilirubin-induced hyperbilirubinemia mice model. The experiment confirmed that the diameter range of PGC-CDs was from 1.2 to 3.6 nm. PGC-CDs had no toxicity to RAW264.7 cells and LO2 cells at a concentration of 3.91 to 1000 µg/mL and could reduce the oxidative damage of cells caused by H2O2. PGC-CDs could inhibit the increase levels of bilirubin and inflammation factors and increase the levels of antioxidants and survival rate, demonstrating that PGC-CDs possessed anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation activity. PGC-CDs may reduce the content of bilirubin, so as to reduce a series of pathological lesions caused by bilirubin, which has potential in treating hyperbilirubinemia and preventing liver damage induced by hyperbilirubinemia.

Carrier-free nanoplatforms from natural plants for enhanced bioactivity

BACKGROUND

Natural plants as well as traditional Chinese medicine have made outstanding contributions to the health and reproduction of human beings and remain the basis and major resource for drug innovation. Carrier-free nanoplatforms completely self-assembled by pure molecules or therapeutic components have attracted increasing attention due to their advantages of improved pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics, reduced toxicity, and high drug loading. In recent years, carrier-free nanoplatforms produced by self-assembly from natural plants have contributed to progress in a variety of therapeutic modalities. Notably, these nanoplatforms based on the interactions of components from different natural plants improve efficiency and depress toxicity.

AIM OF REVIEW

In this review, different types of self-assembled nanoplatforms are first summarized, mainly including nanoassemblies of pure small molecules isolated from different plants, extracellular vesicles separated from fresh plants, charcoal nanocomponents obtained from charred plants, and nanoaggregates from plants formulae decoctions. Key Scientific Concepts of Review: We mainly focus on composition, self-assembly mechanisms, biological activity and modes of action. Finally, a future perspective of existing challenges with respect to the clinical application of plant-based carrier-free nanoplatforms is discussed, which may be instructive to further develop effective carrier-free nanoplatforms from natural plants in the future.

Aristolochic Acid Nephropathy: A Novel Suppression Strategy of Carbon Dots Derived from Astragali Radix Carbonisata

Despite strict restrictions on the use of aristolochic acids (AAs)-containing merchandise or drugs in many countries, a substantial amounts of occurrences aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) had been accounted worldwide. Clinically, there is no effective incurable therapy regimen to reverse the progression of AAN. Although carbon dots have shown surprising bioactivity, research on the acute kidney injury caused by AAs is lacking. Here, a novel biomass-carbon dots from Astragali Radix (AR) as precursors was synthesized through one-step pyrolysis treatment. The ARC-carbon dots (ARC-CDs) was demonstrated in detail for its inhibitory effect on aristolochic acid nephropathy in a mice model. The indexes of inflammatory cytokines as well as oxidative stress were significantly reduced by the ARC-CDs in kidney tissue cells. Additionally, the ARC-CDs administration resulted in a large decrease in positive apoptotic cells according to TUNEL labeling and western blotting, which may be connected to the ARC-CDs’ modulation of the protein in the Akt/Mdm2/p53 signaling pathway. These findings show that ARC-CDs have remarkable anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic capabilities against acute kidney injury spurred by aristolochic acids via the AKT/Mdm2/p53 signaling pathway.

Chinese Medicinal Herb-Derived Carbon Dots for Common Diseases: Efficacies and Potential Mechanisms

The management of hemorrhagic diseases and other commonly refractory diseases (including gout, inflammatory diseases, cancer, pain of various forms and causes) are very challenging in clinical practice. Charcoal medicine is a frequently used complementary and alternative drug therapy for hemorrhagic diseases. However, studies (other than those assessing effects on hemostasis) on charcoal-processed medicines are limited. Carbon dots (CDs) are quasi-spherical nanoparticles that are biocompatible and have high stability, low toxicity, unique optical properties. Currently, there are various studies carried out to evaluate their efficacy and safety. The exploration of using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) -based CDs for the treatment of common diseases has received great attention. This review summarizes the literatures on medicinal herbs-derived CDs for the treatment of the difficult-to-treat diseases, and explored the possible mechanisms involved in the process of treatment.

Study on chemical constituents of Folium Artemisiae argyi Carbonisatum, toxicity evaluation on zebrafish and intestinal hemostasis

Folium Artemisiae argyi Carbonisatum (FAAC) is a traditional medicine widely used in clinic. It has the effect of hemostasis by warming meridians. In order to further explore the chemical composition and biological activity of FAAC, the methanol extract of FAAC was isolated and purified by open column and high- performance liquid chromatography. and the complete structure was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and LREI-MS for the first time, namely rutin, quercetin and octacosanol respectively. Initially the toxic effect of methanol extract of FAAC on zebrafish was evaluated by observing the phenotypic characteristics, spontaneous twitch times, heart rate, hatching rate, the distance of SV-BA and cardiomyocyte apoptosis of zebrafish. The results showed that FAAC has embryonic development toxicity and cardiotoxicity when it was higher than 62.5 μg/mL. Meanwhile, the hemostatic effect of methanol extract of FAAC was compared with FAA (Folium Artemisia argyi) by zebrafish intestinal bleeding model originally. The results showed that the hemostatic effect of the medium and high concentration dose groups (3.0 and 30.0 μg/mL) was enhanced for both FAAC and FAA. This study provided an experimental basis for the clinical application of FAAC.

A novel organometallic magnesium complexes with aggregation induced emission properties: synthesis, characterization, and fluorescent fibres applications

In this work, a novel organomagnesium complex with outstanding aggregation induced emission (AIE) properties was synthesized using dibenzoylmethane (DBM) as the ligand. The structure of the complex was confirmed to be one magnesium ion coordinated to the diones groups of two DBM molecules, and the magnesium ion adopted a distorted octahedrally geometry. The obvious emission was found for Mg(DBM) 2 powder and not in the solution, which was the first reported organomagnesium complex with AIE property. The properties of complexes were investigated by UV-vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and density functional theory calculations. Moreover, the Mg(DBM) 2 solution dispersed in fifilter paper was nearly colorless, which could be made into a convenient anti-counterfeiting and encryption tool. Mg(DBM) 2 /alginate fibres were prepared by wet-spinning process and further processed into paper, which could be used in the fields of sensor, anti-counterfeiting and encryption. Sweat contains a wealth of chemical information that could potentially indicate the body's deeper biomolecular state. The prepared fluorescent fibres were used to detect sweat due to its non-toxic, low-cost efficient and fast response to analytes.

Herbal medicine derived carbon dots: synthesis and applications in therapeutics, bioimaging and sensing

Since the number of raw material selections for the synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) has grown extensively, herbal medicine as a precursor receives an increasing amount of attention. Compared with other biomass precursors, CDs derived from herbal medicine (HM-CDs) have become the most recent incomer in the family of CDs. In recent ten years, a great many studies have revealed that HM-CDs tend to be good at theranostics without drug loading. However, the relevant development and research results are not systematically reviewed. Herein, the origin and history of HM-CDs are outlined, especially their functional performances in medical diagnosis and treatment. Besides, we sort out the herbal medicine precursors, and analyze the primary synthetic methods and the key characteristics. In terms of the applications of HM-CDs, medical therapeutics, ion and molecular detection, bioimaging, as well as pH sensing are summarized. Finally, we discuss the crucial challenges and future prospects.