Issue 21, 2014

Graphene quantum dots conjugated albumin nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is considered to be the deadliest of all cancers due to its poor prognosis and resistance to conventional therapies. In this study, the potential of hyaluronic acid functionalized and green fluorescent graphene quantum dot (GQD)-labeled human serum albumin nanoparticles for pancreatic cancer specific drug delivery and bioimaging was explored. GQDs with tunable fluorescence properties and biocompatibility have attracted much more interest in recent years as compared to their metal semiconductor counterparts. We adopted lawsone (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) as a novel reducing agent for the synthesis of quantum dots and, in addition to excellent fluorescence of the synthesized GQDs, a good quantum yield of ∼14% was also obtained. Gemcitabine, the most preferred drug for pancreatic cancer treatment, was encapsulated in albumin nanoparticles, and it was observed that our nanoformulation significantly enhanced the bioavailability and sustained release property of the drug to pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. Moreover, the GQD-mediated bioimaging was excellent and enhanced the efficacy of our system as a drug delivery vehicle.

Graphical abstract: Graphene quantum dots conjugated albumin nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging of pancreatic cancer

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
03 Jan 2014
Accepted
03 Apr 2014
First published
04 Apr 2014

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2014,2, 3190-3195

Author version available

Graphene quantum dots conjugated albumin nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery and imaging of pancreatic cancer

P. Nigam, S. Waghmode, M. Louis, S. Wangnoo, P. Chavan and D. Sarkar, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2014, 2, 3190 DOI: 10.1039/C4TB00015C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements