Affiliation:
1. Food Chemistry and Molecular Cancer Biology, Department of Animal Health and Management Alagappa University Karaikudi Tamil Nadu India
2. Department of Environmental Engineering Kyungpook National University Daegu South Korea
Abstract
AbstractHerein, luminous blue carbon quantum dots (CDs) employing Anisomeles indica (Catmint) were reported with imaging, self‐targeting, and therapeutic effects on triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC, MDA‐MB‐231) cells. The salient features of CDs generated from catmint are as follows: i) optical studies confirm CDs with excitation‐dependent emission; ii) high‐throughput characterization authenticates the formation of CDs with near‐spherical shape with diameter ranging between 5 and 15 nm; iii) CDs induce cytotoxicity (3.22 ± 0.64 μg/ml) in triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC, MDA‐MB‐231) cells; iv) fluorescence microscopy demonstrates that CDs promote apoptosis by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential; v) CDs significantly up‐regulate pro‐apoptotic gene expression levels such as caspases‐8/9/3. Finally, our work demonstrates that catmint‐derived CDs are prospective nanotheranostics that augment cancer targeting and imaging.