Green and cost-effective synthesis of carbon dots from date kernel and their application as a novel switchable fluorescence probe for sensitive assay of Zoledronic acid drug in human serum and cellular imaging.

A new label-free, sensitive and selective off and on signaling fluorescence platform for assay of trace levels of Zoledronic acid (ZA) drug in human biological samples based on nitrogen doped carbon dots (N-CDs) - ferric ions (Fe3+) was designed. The fluorescence probe, N-CDs, was synthesized for the first time through a facile, eco-friendly and one-step hydrothermal treatment using date kernel as the precursor without any need to use chemical reagents. These CDs exhibited excellent water solubility, ionic and photo stability in various circumstances and a highly relative quantum yield of 12.5%. In the presence of Fe3+, the fluorescence intensity (FL) for N-CDs was strongly quenched due to the interaction between ferric ions and the functional groups at the N-CDs (switch off). Afterwards, by the addition of ZA, the fluorescence sensor status turned to "ON" (switch on) due to the dominance of ZA in the competition between functional groups on the surface of N-CDs and phosphate groups in ZA in the interaction with Fe3+ results in removing Fe3+ from the surface of N-CDs. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed fluorescence probe (N-CDs-Fe3+) exhibited good sensing performance for ZA assay with a linearity from 0.1 µM to 10.0 µM, a detection limit of 0.04 µM and the precision of 2.70%. The developed N-CDs-Fe3+ sensor was successfully used for the assay of ZA contents with good recoveries and selectivity in human serum samples. Meanwhile, the in vitro cytotoxic activity and cellular uptake of N-CDs were investigated on human osteosarcoma (MG-63) cell line.

The Influence of Surface Modification on the Photoluminescence of CdTe Quantum Dots: Realization of Bio-Imaging via Cost-Effective Polymer.

To impart biocompatibility, stability, and specificity to quantum dots (QDs)-and to reduce their toxicity-it is essential to carry out surface modification. However, most surface-modification processes are costly, complicated, and time-consuming. In addition, the modified QDs often have a large size, which leads to easy aggregation in biological environments, making it difficult to excrete them from in vivo systems. To solve these problems, three kinds of conventional polymers, namely, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, neutral), sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSS, negative charged), and poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (PDDA, positive charged) were selected to modify the surface of QDs at low cost via a simple process in which the size of the QDs was kept small after modification. The effect of polymer modification on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of the QDs was systematically investigated. High quantum yields (QYs) of 65 % were reached, which is important for the realization of bio-imaging. Then, the cytotoxicity of CdTe QD-polymer composites was systematically investigated via MTT assay using the Cal27 and HeLa cell lines, especially for high concentrations of QD-polymer composites in vitro. The experimental results showed that the cytotoxicity decreased in the order CdTe-PDDA>CdTe>CdTe-PSS>CdTe-PVA, indicating that PSS and PVA can reduce the toxicity of the QDs. An obvious cytotoxicity of CdTe-PVA and CdTe-PSS was present until 120 h for the Cal27 cell line and until 168 h for the HeLa cell line. At last, the Cal27 cell line was selected to realize bio-imaging using CdTe-PSS and CdTe-PVA composites with different emission colors under one excitation wavelength.