Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Amit Fischer, Pu Zhang, Yu Ouyang, Yang Sung Sohn, Ola Karmi, Rachel Nechushtai, Eli Pikarsky, Itamar Willner
Summary: In this study, the assembly of ATP and miRNA-responsive DNA tetrahedra-functionalized carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel microcapsules is presented. The microcapsules are selectively unlocked and release the loaded drugs in the presence of ATP or miRNA-141. The functionalized microcapsules with DNA tetrahedra nanostructures exhibit superior permeation into cells, particularly breast cancer cells. The stimuli-responsive, drug-loaded, DNA tetrahedra-modified microcapsules show superior and selective cytotoxicity toward cancer cells.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Seokhwan Chung, Richard A. Revia, Miqin Zhang
Summary: Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have excellent properties for various applications in nanomedicine. Recent research focuses on their physicochemical, electronic, magnetic, and biological properties, discussing their use in bioimaging and therapy, as well as technical progress in GQDs synthesis.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sarah Reagen, Yingfen Wu, Xiao Liu, Rahul Shahni, Jacob Bogenschuetz, Xu Wu, Qianli R. Chu, Nuri Oncel, Jin Zhang, Xiaodong Hou, Colin Combs, Antonio Vasquez, Julia Xiaojun Zhao
Summary: This study successfully synthesized NIR GQDs using a facile one-step pyrolysis method and characterized them through various analytical techniques. The GQDs showed excellent photostability and stability over a wide pH range, as well as potential applications in cell imaging and biological mercury detection.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mikiko Vazquez-Nakagawa, Laura Rodriguez-Perez, Nazario Martin, M. Angeles Herranz
Summary: This study describes a method for preparing new chiral graphene quantum dots through chemical functionalization, and examines their supramolecular assembly using microscopy. Fluorescence studies show that the fibers stem from the pi-pi stacking of pyrenes and GQDs, along with the hydrogen bonding interactions of the amide groups.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Vedran Milosavljevic, Katerina Mitrevska, Vojtech Adam
Summary: Graphene nanoparticles (GNPs) show promise in biosensing applications due to their high electrochemical activity and optical properties. Oxygenated counterparts, GONPs, offer improved dispersibility and stability.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaofang Liu, Jiaxi Deng, Jiawei Li, Jiangbo Dong, Huan Liu, Jinsong Zhao, Xiaogang Luo, Danqun Huo, Changjun Hou
Summary: A fluorescence sensor array based on B-doped graphene quantum dots was designed to detect six illegally used plasticizers. The sensor array showed good analytical performance with a linear relationship and a wide detection range.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xinzhe Xiao, Yumin Zhang, Lei Zhou, Bin Li, Lin Gu
Summary: Graphene oxide (GO) is an excellent photoluminescence (PL) material with unique optical properties. It has been widely used in various fields such as material science and biomedicine. The luminescence mechanism of GO and GOQDs is still not fully understood, but they show potential in medical imaging and biosensors.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Neha Devi, Ceren Cokca, Rohit Sharma, Munish Kumar, Kalina Peneva, Rohit K. Sharma, Nishima Wangoo
Summary: This study focuses on the development of a highly efficient nanomaterial-based drug delivery system to overcome the limitations of current drug delivery systems. By encapsulating anticancer drugs in biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles and using fluorescent tags and cell-penetrating peptides to enhance cellular uptake, the bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of the drugs can be improved.
MATERIALS TODAY COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lingyan Zhu, Dongbing Li, Heng Lu, Shangkun Zhang, Hao Gao
Summary: By using an acidolysis process followed by hydrothermal treatment, this study introduced an improved synthesis route for high-quality nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (GQDs) from alkali lignin. These GQDs demonstrate remarkable fluorescence stability, high quantum yield, and are utilized for sensitive and selective detection of Fe3+ and ascorbic acid.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Emel Kirbas Cilingir, Meghana Sankaran, Jordan M. Garber, Frederic Anthony Vallejo, Mattia Bartoli, Alberto Tagliaferro, Steven Vanni, Regina M. Graham, Roger M. Leblanc
Summary: Carbon dots (CDs) have gained attention for their biocompatibility and tunable photoluminescence, but further analysis is needed before their use in clinical trials. A new type of carbon nitride dot (CND) has been found to selectively uptake cancer cells due to structural similarities with glutamine. The study investigates the effects of surface structural differences on the cellular uptake of CNDs and finds that the uptake mechanism is linked with ASCT2 and LAT1 transporters. CNDs show promise for selective cancer cell targeting by utilizing highly expressed transporters on cancer cells.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Pawel Wolski
Summary: The research investigated the combined effect of the amount of oxygen-containing groups on the carbon quantum dot surface and the pH level on the interaction mechanism between an anticancer drug and a carrier. The study found that the strength of interaction between CQDs and DOX increases with surface coverage and pH, with electrostatic interactions playing a significant role in drug loading. Molecular dynamics simulations provided a microscopic view of DOX loading and release on/from CQDs, which is crucial for the development of advanced CQD-based targeted drug delivery systems.
MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Youwen Zhang, Gaeun Kim, Yini Zhu, Ceming Wang, Runyao Zhu, Xin Lu, Hsueh-Chia Chang, Yichun Wang
Summary: As nanoscale extracellular vesicles secreted by cells, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have great potential as safe and effective drug delivery vehicles. However, there are challenges in loading drugs into sEVs, which hinders their clinical applications. This study presents an exogenous drug-agnostic chiral graphene quantum dots (GQDs) sEV-loading platform, which can efficiently load both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs onto GQDs through pi-pi stacking and van der Waals interactions. By optimizing the chirality of the ligands and GQDs, the drug loading efficiency for doxorubicin and siRNA is significantly higher compared to other reported sEV loading techniques.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Min Wang, Chunhu Li, Meiling Zhou, Zhining Xia, Yike Huang
Summary: This study presents a new method for the synthesis of chiral carbon dots (CCDs) and demonstrates their excellent performance in chiral recognition and fluorescence sensing. Through experiments and theoretical calculations, the response mechanism and chiral optical activity of CCDs have been elucidated in detail.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yudie Sun, La Fang, Yunxiang Han, Aobo Feng, Shengjun Liu, Kui Zhang, Jing-Juan Xu
Summary: Myocardial miRNAs in peripheral blood play a crucial role in the pathogenic process of myocardial infarction. Researchers have developed a ratiometric electrochemiluminescence biosensor for the rapid identification and accurate quantification of myocardial miRNAs, which has significant implications in clinical interventions for treating cardiovascular lesions.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ting Meng, Zifei Wang, Ting Yuan, Xiaohong Li, Yunchao Li, Yang Zhang, Louzhen Fan
Summary: This study presents a gram-scale synthesis of red/green/blue solid-state fluorescent carbon quantum rings with high quantum yields, offering a potential alternative to REE-free phosphor-converted white LEDs. These R/G/B-SBF-CQRs-based LEDs emit warm white light with low CCT, high CRI, and high luminous efficiency, comparable to REE-phosphor-based LEDs.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bong Han Lee, Ryan Lee McKinney, Md. Tanvir Hasan, Anton V. Naumov
Summary: Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) serve as novel luminescence nanothermometers for non-invasive and biologically safe sub-cellular resolution sensing of temperature-sensitive processes. They exhibit temperature sensitivity and photostable fluorescence in both visible and near-infrared regions, with distinctive linear and reversible fluorescence quenching observed in aqueous suspension and HeLa cell cytoplasm. The temperature-dependent fluorescence quenching of GQDs studied in this work can serve as reversible/photostable deterministic mechanisms for temperature sensing in microscopic sub-cellular biological environments.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Md Tanvir Hasan, Bong Han Lee, Ching-Wei Lin, Ainsley McDonald-Boyer, Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Satvik Vasireddy, Uyanga Tsedev, Jeffery Coffer, Angela M. Belcher, Anton Naumov
Summary: RGQDs, synthesized for the first time, are nanometer-sized graphene quantum dots derived from reduced graphene oxide, with NIR emission and high biocompatibility, suitable for bioimaging and therapeutic delivery. Through a high-yield synthetic process, RGQDs exhibit efficient internalization in cells and fluorescence tracking in live mice, presenting a new potential for NIR imaging in live animal models.
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Samara Sharpe, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Ordinary differential equation (ODE) models of cancer growth are commonly used for predicting tumor growth, but they overlook the discrete nature of cells and the impact of stochastic events, which can significantly alter the time course of tumor growth, especially when the cell population is small. Investigating stochastic versions of seven common ODE models reveals differences in predictions regarding the level of chemotherapy needed to cure a tumor and the time required for a cure, emphasizing the importance of further research into identifying the most accurate model for describing cancer growth.
COMMUNICATIONS IN NONLINEAR SCIENCE AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Benjamin Jessie, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common contagious infection of the lungs and respiratory tract, characterized by multinuclear cells. A mathematical model was used to study the impact of syncytia on the time course of viral infection, revealing that syncytia can influence the viral titer and infection growth rate under certain conditions. The presence of syncytia in RSV infection can lead to slowly growing infections if viral production is suppressed within syncytia.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Elizabeth Campbell, Md Tanvir Hasan, Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Tate Truly, Bong Han Lee, Kayla N. Green, Giridhar Akkaraju, Anton V. Naumov
Summary: This study developed a new multifunctional biocompatible anticancer nanoformulation that provides targeted image-guided cancer therapy, demonstrating capabilities in treatment, imaging, and specific targeting of cancer cells.
NANOMEDICINE-NANOTECHNOLOGY BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Lubna Pinky, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Research suggests that some viruses have the ability to block or suppress the growth of other viruses when present simultaneously in the same host. This phenomenon, known as viral interference or viral block, may occur between respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and other co-circulating respiratory viruses. A compartmental epidemiological model was used to explore the impact of viral block on the spread of viruses within a susceptible population. The study found that viral block leads to a decrease in the number of people infected with the suppressed virus at the population level, especially when the viruses have similar epidemiological parameters. Simulations of co-circulating epidemics of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus showed that co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and RSV resulted in the most suppression of SARS-CoV-2. Interestingly, co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza or rhinovirus did not significantly change the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, but caused a shift in the timing of the influenza and rhinovirus epidemics.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Baylor G. Fain, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: In this study, an agent-based model was developed to investigate viral transmission. With accelerated computing using GPUs, the model can efficiently fit real experimental data and accurately simulate infection processes within hosts. This allows for quicker development of treatment plans and action strategies during outbreaks or epidemics.
JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ryan Ajgaonkar, Bong Lee, Alina Valimukhametova, Steven Nguyen, Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Jeffery Coffer, Giridhar R. Akkaraju, Anton Naumov
Summary: This study developed a non-invasive method for early detection of pancreatic cancer by detecting specific miRNA using fluorescence properties. Biocompatible nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) were synthesized and combined with charged bait DNA to form a complex. The fluorescence of NGQDs can distinguish specific DNA sequences with high sensitivity. This approach enables the detection of cancer-specific miRNA non-invasively, facilitating early diagnosis.
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Alina R. Valimukhametova, Olga S. Zub, Bong Han Lee, Olivia Fannon, Steven Nguyen, Roberto Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Giridhar R. Akkaraju, Anton V. Naumov
Summary: Sonography offers advantages of non-invasiveness, deep tissue penetration, and low cost. The combination of ultrasound contrast agents with visible and NIR fluorophores can overcome the lack of high precision imaging. Metal-doped NGQDs demonstrate high-contrast ultrasound brightness mode properties and visible/NIR fluorescence imaging capabilities. They have potential for various theragnostic applications.
ACS BIOMATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biology
Asher Haun, Baylor Fain, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Illness can have negative impacts on various aspects of life, and viral infections are a major cause of illness. Some viral infections can last for weeks, while others, such as influenza, can be resolved quickly. This research investigates how cellular regeneration affects viral infection dynamics under different modes of transmission, using an agent-based framework and varying the rate of regeneration. The study shows that changes in peak viral load, time of viral peak, and chronic viral load are more extreme for cell-to-cell transmission compared to cell-free transmission, due to limited access of infected cells to newly generated cells.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Karan Buntval, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: New cancer treatments that minimize patient discomfort are necessary, and one potential therapy is the use of oncolytic viruses. However, it is important to ensure that the viruses only target cancer cells and not harm healthy cells. A mathematical model of viral infection is used to determine the characteristics required for a virus to effectively eliminate a tumor without harming non-cancerous cells.
COMPUTERS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Virology
Ela Guo, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Oncolytic adenoviruses (OAds) show promise in cancer treatment due to their selective infection and lysis of tumor cells and their ability to stimulate the immune response. Using an ordinary differential equation (ODE) model, this study parameterizes previous research on the effect of genetically re-engineered OAds in inhibiting tumor growth in murine models of A549 lung cancer tumors. The findings suggest that an immune response plays a crucial role in eliminating the tumor, and OAds with high infection rates and low viral clearance rates may be more effective in delaying tumor growth.
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Zakarya Noffel, Hana M. Dobrovolny
Summary: Defective viral genomes (DVGs) are partial viral RNA that cannot replicate on their own. When a cell containing DVGs is infected with a complete viral genome, the DVGs can use missing proteins from the full genome to replicate. This study on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shows that late onset and prolonged detection of DVGs are associated with lower infection rates and higher clearance rates, suggesting potential therapeutic implications.
MATHEMATICAL BIOSCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
(2023)