Highly Fluorescent Chiral N-S-Doped Carbon Dots from Cysteine: Affecting Cellular Energy Metabolism

Feng Li; Yiye Li; Xiao Yang; Xuexiang Han; Yang Jiao; Taotao Wei; Dayong Yang; Huaping Xu; Guangjun Nie

doi:10.1002/anie.201712453

Highly Fluorescent Chiral N-S-Doped Carbon Dots from Cysteine: Affecting Cellular Energy Metabolism

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2018 Feb 23;57(9):2377-2382. doi: 10.1002/anie.201712453. Epub 2018 Feb 8.

Authors

Feng Li^{1

2}, Yiye Li^{3

4}, Xiao Yang^{3

4}, Xuexiang Han^{3

4}, Yang Jiao¹, Taotao Wei⁵, Dayong Yang², Huaping Xu¹, Guangjun Nie^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China.
² School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, P. R. China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center of Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
⁴ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China.
⁵ National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, P. R. China.

PMID: 29359840
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201712453

Abstract

Cysteine-based chiral optically active carbon dots (CDs) and their effects on cellular energy metabolism, which is vital for essential cellular functions, have been barely reported. A green and effective synthesis strategy for chiral N-S-doped CDs (fluorescence quantum yield ca. 41.26 %) based on hydrothermal treatment of l- or d-cysteine at as low as 60 °C has been developed. This suggested that cysteine was instable in aqueous solutions and acts as a warning for high-temperature synthesis of nanomaterials using cysteine as stabilizer. Human bladder cancer T24 cells treated with l-CDs showed up-regulated glycolysis, while d-CDs had no similar effects. In contrast, no disturbance to the basal mitochondrial aerobic respiration of T24 cells was caused by either chiral CD.

Keywords: carbon dots; cellular energy metabolism; chirality; glycolysis; green synthesis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carbon / chemistry
Carbon / metabolism*
Cell Line, Tumor
Cysteine / chemistry
Cysteine / metabolism*
Energy Metabolism*
Fluorescence*
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Optical Imaging
Quantum Dots / chemistry
Quantum Dots / metabolism*

Substances

Carbon
Cysteine