In Vitro and Silico Studies on the N-Doped Carbon Dots Potential in ACE2 Expression Modulation

Abstract

The alteration of ACE2 expression level, which has been studied in many diseases, makes the topic of ACE2 inducer potential crucial to be explored. The ACE2 inducer could further be designed to control the ACE2 expression level, which is appropriate to a specific case. An in vitro study of well-characterized carbon dots (CDs), made from citric acid and urea, was performed to determine their ability to modulate the ACE2 receptor. Gene expression of ACE2 was quantified using concentrations adjusted for IC50 results from CDs viability assays in HEK 293 and A549 cell lines. RT-qPCR was used to assess the expression of the ACE2 gene and its induction effect in normal cell lines (HEK-293A). According to the results of the tests, ACE2 is expressed in HEK-293A cell lines, and diminazene aceturate can increase ACE2 expression. The effect of CDs on ACE2 gene expression was further examined on the cell lines that had previously been induced with diminazene aceturate, which resulted in upregulation of the ACE2 expression level. An in silico study has been done by using a molecular docking approach. The molecular docking results show that CDs can make strong interactions with ACE2 amino acid residues through hydrophobic interaction, π–π interaction, π-cation interaction, and ionic interaction.

Pulsed Electric Field Combined with Deep Eutectic Solvents Enhanced the Antiglycation Activity of Noni Flavonoid Extracts by Directionally Regulating Their Glycoside and Aglycone Proportions

“…12,13 Flavonoids, which are polyphenolic compounds highly abundant in plant extracts, exert satisfactory antiglycation activity. 14 Flavonoid extracts from Chrysanthemum indicum, Teucrium polium, and Vaccinium vitisidaea were reported to inhibit the formation of products from different glycation stages, which may be related to their strong radical scavenging activity. 15 The composition of flavonoids had a substantial effect on the bioactivities of flavonoid extracts.…”

Functionalized Phytochemicals-Embedded Carbon Dots Derived from Medicinal Plant for Bioimaging Application

“…15−17 For instance, by welldesigned functionalization, our as-synthesized CDs exhibit a promising ability to modulate the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) expression. 18 Thus, surface functionalization of the phytochemical-derived CDs could be the best approach to overcome their limitation in the case of their solubility and tunable properties. One of the typical functionalizations used is nitrogen doping, which could alter the chemical interaction between CDs and their target, such as the cell membrane.…”

“…However, there is still room to improve utilizing these phytochemical-derived CDs for biomedical applications. As reported in our previous works, surface functionalization of the CDs could enhance their solubility and optical properties. − For instance, by well-designed functionalization, our as-synthesized CDs exhibit a promising ability to modulate the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) expression . Thus, surface functionalization of the phytochemical-derived CDs could be the best approach to overcome their limitation in the case of their solubility and tunable properties.…”