Fluorescent Carbonaceous Nanodots for Noninvasive
Glioma Imaging after Angiopep‑2 Decoration
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Abstract
Fluorescent carbonaceous nanodots
(CDs) have attracted much attention
due to their unique properties. However, their application in noninvasive
imaging of diseased tissues was restricted by the short excitation/emission
wavelengths and the low diseased tissue accumulation efficiency. In
this study, CDs were prepared from glucose and glutamic acid with
a particle size of 4 nm. Obvious emission could be observed at 600
to 700 nm when CDs were excited at around 500 nm. This property enabled
CDs with capacity for deep tissue imaging with low background adsorption.
Angiopep-2, a ligand which could target glioma cells, was anchored
onto CDs after PEGylation. The product, An-PEG-CDs, could target C6
glioma cells with higher intensity than PEGylated CDs (PEG-CDs), and
endosomes were involved in the uptake process. In vivo, An-PEG-CDs
could accumulate in the glioma site at higher intensity, as the glioma/normal
brain ratio for An-PEG-CDs was 1.73. The targeting effect of An-PEG-CDs
was further demonstrated by receptor staining, which showed An-PEG-CDs
colocalized well with the receptors expressed in glioma. In conclusion,
An-PEG-CDs could be successfully used for noninvasive glioma imaging