Affiliation:
1. University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
2. Institut of Nuclear Sciences "Vinča", National Institut of the Republic of Serbia
3. Jozef Stefan Institute
Abstract
Abstract
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are well known as a promising therapeutic agent due to their excellent pro-oxidant, antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer properties under visible light irradiation. This material is easy to produce by several bottom-up or top-down methods. In this study, we used citric acid as starting precursor to synthesize aqueous carbon quantum dots dispersion by pyrolysis at 210 oC. Atomic force microscopy and XPS analyses revealed that CQDs synthesized are quasi-spherical with typical diameter of 9 nm and lots of C-O and C = O functional groups distributed over the basal plane and edges of the dots. Here, we investigated the antiviral properties of CQDs against cytomegalovirus (CMV). The pre-treatment with CQDs upregulates interferon-stimulated genes (ISG), resulting in better virus control. Cellular defence against cytomegalovirus of CQDs pre-treated cells is increased in a dose-dependent manner. Our results reveal high biocompatibility and potent in vitro antiviral properties of CQDs.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
Reference28 articles.
1. Carbon quantum dots: synthesis, properties and applications;Wang Y;Journal of Materials Chemistry C,2014
2. Marković, Z. M. & Todorović Marković, B. M. in Nanostructured Materials for Treating Aquatic Pollution (eds Gil Alberto Batista Gonçalves & Paula Marques) 121–145 (Springer International Publishing, 2019).
3. Evolution and Synthesis of Carbon Dots: From Carbon Dots to Carbonized Polymer Dots;Xia C;Adv Sci (Weinh),2019
4. Progress and challenges in understanding of photoluminescence properties of carbon dots based on theoretical computations;Langer M;Applied Materials Today
5. 1016/j.apmt.2020.100924 (2021). 5 Belza, J., Opletalova, A. & Polakova, K. Carbon dots for virus detection and therapy. Mikrochim Acta 188, 430, doi:10.1007/s00604-021-05076-6 (2021). 6 Barras, A. et al. High Efficiency of Functional Carbon Nanodots as Entry Inhibitors of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces 8, 9004–9013, doi:10.1021/acsami.6b01681 (2016). 7 Loczechin, A. et al. Functional Carbon Quantum Dots as Medical Countermeasures to Human Coronavirus. Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces 11, 42964–42974, doi:10.1021/acsami.9b15032 (2019). 8 Chen, H. H. et al. Development of antiviral carbon quantum dots that target the Japanese encephalitis virus envelope protein. Journal of Biological Chemistry 298, doi:ARTN 101957