Carbon Dots: Promising Biomaterials for Bone-Specific Imaging and Drug Delivery

Authors

Zhili Peng, Dali University - China; University of Miami
Esmail H. Miyanji, University of Miami
Yiqun Zhou, University of Miami
Joel Pardo, University of Miami
Sajini D. Hettiarachchi, University of Miami
Shanghao Li, University of Miami; MP Biomedicals
Patricia Blackwelder, University of Miami; Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Isaac Skromne, University of Miami; University of Richmond
Roger M. Leblanc, University of Miami

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Nanoscale

ISSN

2040-3364

Publication Date

11-28-2017

Abstract

Bone-related diseases and dysfunctions are heavy burdens on our increasingly aged society. One important strategy to relieve this problem is through early detection and treatment of bone-related diseases. Towards this goal, there has been constant interest in developing novel bone-specific materials for imaging and drug delivery. Currently, however, materials that have high affinity and specificity towards bone are very limited. Carbon dots (C-dots) synthesized from carbon nanopowder bind to calcified bones in vivo with high affinity and specificity. In this study we show that bone binding is highly unique to a specific type of C-dot, and that this binding is non-toxic. Significantly, C-dots derived from other raw materials did not show any bone binding properties. These differences are attributed to the differences in surface chemistry of C-dot preparations, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of C-dots. Importantly, bone-binding by carbon nanopowder derived C-dots is not significantly altered by chemical functionalization of their surface. These unique properties indicate the potential applications of carbon nanopowder-derived C-dots as highly bone-specific bioimaging agents and drug carriers.

DOI

10.1039/C7NR05731H

Volume

9

Issue

44

First Page

17533

Last Page

17543

Comments

©Royal Society of Chemistry 2017

NSUWorks Citation

Zhili Peng, Esmail H. Miyanji, Yiqun Zhou, Joel Pardo, Sajini D. Hettiarachchi, Shanghao Li, Patricia Blackwelder, Isaac Skromne, and Roger M. Leblanc. 2017. Carbon Dots: Promising Biomaterials for Bone-Specific Imaging and Drug Delivery .Nanoscale , (44) : 17533 -17543. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/844.