Near-Infrared Emitting Dual-Stimuli-Responsive Carbon Dots from Endogenous Bile Pigments

Published

August 12, 2021

Author(s)

Parinaz Fathi, Parikshit Moitra, Madeleine M. McDonald, Mandy Esch, Dipanjan Pan

Abstract

Careful selection of carbon dot precursors and surface modification techniques has allowed for the development of carbon dots with strong near-infrared fluorescence emission. However, the rational selection of tetrapyrrolic carbon dot precursors to obtain stimuli-responsive behavior in addition to strong fluorescence contrast is unexplored. In this work, the first synthesis of carbon nanoparticles derived from endogenous bile pigments bilirubin (BR-CDots) and biliverdin (BV-CDots), which lends them with enzymatically and photolytically switchable spectroscopic characteristics, is reported. Water-dispersible carbon dots with strong fluorescent contrast are obtained without the need for surface modifications post-synthesis. Interestingly, BV- and BR-CDots retain their stimuli-responsive behaviors intrinsic to their precursors post- synthesis. After exposure to bilirubin oxidase or UV irradiation, BR-CDots shift their UV and fluorescence characteristics to be more similar tolike that of BV-CDots. Similarly, after exposure to biliverdin reductase, BV-CDots shift their UV and fluorescence spectral characteristics to be like more silimiar to that of BR-CDots. BR-CDots are additionally found to provide strong near-infrared fluorescence contrast and high biocompatibility. This work demonstrates the use of rationally selected carbon sources for obtaining near-infrared fluorescence and stimuli-responsive switching behavior in carbon dots.

Citation

Nanoscale

Volume

13

Issue

31

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1039/D1NR01295A

Local Download

Citation

Fathi, P. , Moitra, P. , McDonald, M. , Esch, M. and Pan, D. (2021), Near-Infrared Emitting Dual-Stimuli-Responsive Carbon Dots from Endogenous Bile Pigments, Nanoscale, [online], https://doi.org/10.1039/D1NR01295A, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=928689 (Accessed December 3, 2024)