Simultaneous drug delivery and cellular imaging using graphene oxide.

Area of Science:

• Nanomaterials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Chemistry

Background:

• Graphene oxide (GO) is a graphene derivative with biocompatibility and a large surface area.
• Abundant oxygen functional groups on GO facilitate its use as a nano-bio interface.
• Current applications often require additional labeling for bio-imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To induce blue fluorescence in graphene oxide (GO) suspensions.
• To enable GO to function as both a cellular imaging and drug delivery agent.
• To develop a simple, controllable method for enhancing GO's fluorescence for biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• A mild thermal annealing procedure was used to induce blue fluorescence in GO suspensions.
• The procedure preserved oxygen functional groups on the graphene plane.
• Conjugation of cancer drugs to GO was performed without significant cytotoxicity.

Main Results:

• Blue fluorescence was successfully induced in GO suspensions via thermal annealing.
• The functional groups on GO remained intact, allowing for drug conjugation.
• GO demonstrated dual functionality as a cellular imaging and drug delivery agent in CT26 cancer cells.
• No additional fluorescent protein labeling was required for imaging.

Conclusions:

• Mild thermal annealing is an effective strategy to induce and tune the fluorescence of GO.
• GO can serve as a dual-purpose agent for cancer cell imaging and drug delivery.
• This approach offers a promising, label-free strategy for biomedical applications of GO.