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Published on: May 2, 2016
Biodegradable Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanodots for Non-Invasive Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy
Changho Lee1, Woosung Kwon2, Songeun Beack3
1Department of Creative IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Pohang 37673, South Korea;; Current address: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Abstract:
Multifunctional nanoparticles have been widely investigated for biomedical applications, such as imaging, therapy, and drug delivery. Especially, photoactive nanoparticles have received great attention as theranostic agents because of their heat-generating abilities after exposure to laser irradiation. However, photostability and safety issues have been the technical hurdles for further clinical applications. Here, we designed nitrogen (N)-doped carbon nanodots (N-CNDs) that have strong absorption in the near-infrared region, high photostability, and excellent biodegradability. Optimized N-CNDs can be utilized not only as a new photoacoustic (PA) imaging agent but also as a superior photothermal therapy (PTT) agent in vivo because of their strong optical absorption at a specific wavelength. We used N-CNDs to perform in vivo/ex vivo noninvasive PA imaging of sentinel lymph nodes via local delivery and performed PTT for cancer ablation therapy. Finally, biodegradation and renal clearance were confirmed by performing whole-body PA monitoring and a degradation test.
