Tracking Hyaluronan: Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Coated Carbon Dots for Cancer Cell Targeting and Imaging

WOS: 000424728800019PubMed ID: 29299913War against cancer constantly requires new affinity tools to selectively detect, localize, and quantify biomarkers for diagnosis or prognosis. Herein, carbon nanodots (CDs), an emerging class of fluorescent nanomaterials, coupled with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), are employed as a biocompatible optical imaging tool for probing cancer biomarkers. First, N-doped CDs were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using starch as carbon source and Ltryptophan as nitrogen atom provider to achieve a high quantum yield of 25.1 +/- 2%. The CDs have a typical size of similar to 3.2 nm and produce an intense fluorescence at 450 nm upon excitation with UV light. A MIP shell for specific recognition of glucuronic acid (GlcA) was then synthesized around the CDs, using the emission of the CDs as an internal light source for photopolymerization. GlcA is a substructure (epitope) of hyaluronan, a biomarker for certain cancers. The biotargeting and bioimaging of hyaluronan on fixated human cervical cancer cells using CD core-MIP shell nanocomposites is demonstrated. Human keratinocytes were used as noncancerous reference cells and indeed, less staining was observed by the CD-MIP.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [BIDEB 2214/A]; Ege University Scientific Research ProjectEge University [2017 FEN 007]; Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT)Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT); Institute para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad del Conocimiento del Estado de Aguascalientes (IDSCEA); European Regional Development FundEuropean Union (EU); Region of Picardy (CPER)Region Hauts-de-France; Region of Picardy (project Polysense); European Commission (FP7Marie Curie Actions: SAMOSS) [PITN-2013-607590]; DFG Research Training Group "Electronic Properties of Carbon Based Nanostructures" [GRK 1570]The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)-BIDEB 2214/A International Fellowship program (Ph.D. scholarship of B.D.) is acknowledged. B.D. and S.T. also thank Ege University Scientific Research Project (Project Grant 2017 FEN 007) for partial funding. P.X.M.R thanks the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the Institute para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad del Conocimiento del Estado de Aguascalientes (IDSCEA) for a Ph.D. scholarship. C. Boulnois is thanked for TEM and confocal laser fluorescence microscopy analysis. This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Region of Picardy (CPER2007-2013 and project Polysense). Funding by the European Commission (FP7Marie Curie Actions: SAMOSS, PITN-2013-607590) is also acknowledged. M.M.L. was supported by the DFG Research Training Group "Electronic Properties of Carbon Based Nanostructures" (GRK 1570)