A pseudohomogeneous nanocarrier based on carbon quantum dots decorated with arginine as an efficient gene delivery vehicle

Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 2;11(1):13790. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93153-4.

Abstract

A pseudohomogeneous carrier as an emerging term refers to subnanometric carbon-based vehicle with a high ability to interact with genetic materials to form stable carboplex and successfully transfer them into the cell which will result in inhibiting or expressing of therapeutic genes. Chitosan is a non-toxic polyaminosaccharide used as a precursor in the presence of citric acid to produce carbon quantum dots (CQDs), which decorated with arginine as a surface passivation agent with high amine density in hydrothermal methodology. The Arginine-CQDs are comprehensively characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping, fluorescence, High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), zeta potential and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). In this regard, for the first time, carboplex are formed by electrostatic conjugating of Arginine-CQDs with DNA to protect it from enzymatic degradation. Moreover, the carboplex, like the chitosan precursor, has not shown toxicity against AGS cell line. Interestingly, the Arginine-CQDs have exhibited an excellent ability to overcome cell barriers to deliver into cells compared to chitosan at the same weight ratio. The Arginine-CQDs/pEGFP (W/W) nanocomplex, not only lead to transfection with a relatively higher efficiency than PEI polymer, which is the "golden standard", but carboplex also demonstrates no significant toxicity. Indeed, the EGFP expression level has reached to 2.4 ± 0.2 via Arginine-CQDs carboplex at W/W 50 weight ratio. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report includes chitosan-based CQDs functionalized by arginine which is applied to serve as a pseudohomogeneous vehicle for gene transfection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arginine / chemistry
  • Arginine / genetics*
  • Carbon / chemistry*
  • Chitosan / chemistry
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
  • Gene Transfer Techniques
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Quantum Dots / chemistry
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Transfection / methods

Substances

  • enhanced green fluorescent protein
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Carbon
  • Chitosan
  • Arginine