Abolghasem Abbasi Kajani - Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, ۸۱۷۴۶-۷۳۴۴۱, Iran
Abdol-Khalegh Bordbar - Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, ۸۱۷۴۶-۷۳۴۴۱, Iran
Masoud Ayatollahi Mehrgardi - Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, ۸۱۷۴۶-۷۳۴۴۱, Iran
Sayyed Hamid Zarkesh-Esfahani - Department of Biology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, ۸۱۷۴۶-۷۳۴۴۱, Iran

A one-pot hydrothermal method was developed for the synthesis of a series of carbon dots (CDs) to use as a theranostic nano-platform against cancer. To this aim, Taxane diterpenoids were utilized as the carbon source, different diamines were used as the nitrogen source, and folic acid were used to target the nanostructures. The physico-chemical properties of nanoparticles were characterized using UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, HR-TEM, SAED, XRD, FTIR, and zeta potential analyzer. High quality photo-stable and multicolor (blue and green) carbon nanocrystals with a hexagonal shape, the narrow size distribution of less than 20 nm, and high fluorescence quantum yield of up to 50.4% were obtained from Taxanes in combination with m-phenylenediamine and folic acid to give the best results. The nanoparticles displayed selective anticancer activity with IC50 values of 31.3 ± 2.73 and 34.1 ± 1.15 μg mL-1 for the human MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cell lines, respectively, and IC50 value of 120.5 ± 3.79 μg mL-1 on the normal human fibroblast cells. The flow cytometry studies determined apoptosis mediated cell death as the main anticancer mechanism of CDs and the molecular studies revealed the induction of both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways. The overall results indicated the great theranostic potential of synthesized CDs for the simultaneous cancer imaging and therapy.

Carbon dots, Green synthesis, Cancer theranostics, Fluorescence, Apoptosis