Mitochondria-based aircraft carrier enhances in vivo imaging of carbon quantum dots and delivery of anticancer drug

Abstract

The application of engineered bacteria-based drug delivery vehicles to treat cancer has been practiced for more than a century. Mitochondria, evolutionarily originated from bacteria, are ubiquitous, semi-autonomous cellular organelles. In this study, we present the first exploration of using mitochondria as a delivery system of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) for in vivo imaging and administration of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). The results show that mitochondria as carriers are compatible with CQD loading and preserve the optical properties of CQDs. Moreover, the mitochondria delivery system can improve the CQD bio-distribution in organs and prolong the retention time of CQDs after intravenous injection. Furthermore, mitochondria loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride (Mito-DOX) show an enhanced therapeutic effect compared to free DOX. The mitochondria-based "aircraft" system may be a promising novel therapeutic platform with high potential for biological imaging and drug delivery to fight cancer and other diseases.

Carbon and graphene quantum dots: a review on syntheses, characterization, biological and sensing applications for neurotransmitter determination

“…Consequently, to provide animal imaging in vivo, they developed the nearinfrared uorescent CQD using the modied CQD and the near-infrared Daylight 680 (Dy680) which was followed by loading CQD-Dy680 into the mitochondria (Mito-CQD-Dy680). 105 Another study showed that lattice phosphorus (P) condensation is one of the efficient methods for adjusting the GQDs. Wang et al reported green production of the P-GQDs using the solvothermal treatment of lecithin which obtained higher efficiency (71 wt%).…”

Updates in Anthracycline-Mediated Cardiotoxicity

“…Unfortunately, the in vivo anticancer activity of these agents has not been reported yet. Isolated mitochondria ( Li et al, 2018 ) or nanomicelles ( Zhang et al, 2017 ) are new nanocarriers that may improve the anticancer efficacy of DOX, but their cardiotoxicity in vivo have not been evaluated yet.…”

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots for bioimaging and delivery of paclitaxel

“…[28][29][30] Moreover, CNDs have emerged as a versatile platform for the design of novel drug delivery systems with promising studies reporting the use of CNDs as nanocarriers for the delivery of therapeutic agents, [31][32][33] such as doxorubicin. [34][35][36] CNDs retain their luminescence after the loading of the drugs, either through electrostatic interaction or covalent binding, serving not only as a vehicle for drug delivery, but also for cell imaging. Despite many achievements, a simple and effective preparation of CNDs capable of further modifications to be included in a stable and multifunctional water carrier for hydrophobic drugs, remains a challenge.…”