TY - JOUR
T1 - Photoluminescent carbon quantum dot/poly-L-Lysine core-shell nanoparticles
T2 - A novel candidate for gene delivery
AU - Hasanzadeh, Akbar
AU - Mofazzal Jahromi, Mirza Ali
AU - Abdoli, Amir
AU - Mohammad-Beigi, Hossein
AU - Fatahi, Yousef
AU - Nourizadeh, Helena
AU - Zare, Hossein
AU - Kiani, Jafar
AU - Radmanesh, Fatemeh
AU - Rabiee, Navid
AU - Jahani, Mehdi
AU - Mombeiny, Reza
AU - Karimi, Mahdi
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr.Mofazzal Jahromi has been supported by Jahrom University of Medical Sciences and Dr.Karimi has been supported by Iran University of Medical Sciences .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Cationic polymers such as poly-L-lysine (PLL) are able to interact electrostatically with DNA to produce polymeric systems with nanometric diameters due to the neutralization and accumulation of DNA. This study integrates the outstanding properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with PLL to develop a novel gene delivery vehicle with a core-shell hybrid nanostructure. The CQD/PLL core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were, therefore, synthesized in such a way that they had narrow size distribution and an average diameter under 10 nm, both of which were confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy exhibited that the PLL passivation agents were formed on the CQDs through releasing amine groups on their surface. The positive charge of the CQD/PLL core-shell NPs reduced from +15 to nearly zero mV after being loaded with DNA at the weight ratio of 2:1. These traceable, water-soluble, biocompatible, and tunable photoluminescent NPs demonstrated a quantum yield of around 12% and a cellular uptake of nearly 70%. The NPs also showed no considerable toxicity to the human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293T cells. Hence, these novel CQD/PLL core-shell NPs hold great promise as a non-toxic and efficient gene delivery vector.
AB - Cationic polymers such as poly-L-lysine (PLL) are able to interact electrostatically with DNA to produce polymeric systems with nanometric diameters due to the neutralization and accumulation of DNA. This study integrates the outstanding properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with PLL to develop a novel gene delivery vehicle with a core-shell hybrid nanostructure. The CQD/PLL core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were, therefore, synthesized in such a way that they had narrow size distribution and an average diameter under 10 nm, both of which were confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy exhibited that the PLL passivation agents were formed on the CQDs through releasing amine groups on their surface. The positive charge of the CQD/PLL core-shell NPs reduced from +15 to nearly zero mV after being loaded with DNA at the weight ratio of 2:1. These traceable, water-soluble, biocompatible, and tunable photoluminescent NPs demonstrated a quantum yield of around 12% and a cellular uptake of nearly 70%. The NPs also showed no considerable toxicity to the human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293T cells. Hence, these novel CQD/PLL core-shell NPs hold great promise as a non-toxic and efficient gene delivery vector.
KW - Carbon quantum dot
KW - Gene delivery
KW - Nanoparticles
KW - Poly-L-lysine
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jddst.2020.102118
DO - 10.1016/j.jddst.2020.102118
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85092236420
VL - 61
JO - Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology
JF - Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology
SN - 1773-2247
M1 - 102118
ER -