Dataset Information

B- and N-doped carbon dots by one-step microwave hydrothermal synthesis: tracking yeast status and imaging mechanism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Carbon dots (CDs) are widely used in cell imaging due to their excellent optical properties, biocompatibility and low toxicity. At present, most of the research on CDs focuses on biomedical application, while there are few studies on the application of microbial imaging.

Results

In this study, B- and N-doped carbon dots (BN-CDs) were prepared from citric acid, ethylenediamine, and boric acid by microwave hydrothermal method. Based on BN-CDs labeling yeast, the dead or living of yeast cell could be quickly identified, and their growth status could also be clearly observed. In order to further observe the morphology of yeast cell under different lethal methods, six methods were used to kill the cells and then used BN-CDs to label the cells for imaging. More remarkably, imaging of yeast cell with ultrasound and antibiotics was significantly different from other imaging due to the overflow of cell contents. In addition, the endocytosis mechanism of BN-CDs was investigated. The cellular uptake of BN-CDs is dose, time and partially energy-dependent along with the involvement of passive diffusion. The main mechanism of endocytosis is caveolae-mediated.

Conclusion

BN-CDs can be used for long-term stable imaging of yeast, and the study provides basic research for applying CDs to microbiol imaging.

SUBMITTER: Tian B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8715610 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Carbon dots (CDs) are a diverse and wide-reaching field of study which encompasses multiple scientific disciplines. This, along with their extensive applications, calls for the need to continually seek to improve their synthesis efficiency. To this end, we focused upon the effects of altering the heating method on the characteristics and quality of the final CD product. In our approach, two different versions of heating techniques were used including the common oven-based hydrothermal method and a microwave (MW)-assisted hydrothermal method. The MW-assisted heating involved the implementation of a pressure vessel (similar to oven hydrothermal vessel) for improved yield of luminescent CDs. We found that this MW method yielded CDs of bright intensity with comparable shape, size, and dispersity to that produced using conventional hydrothermal methods. Specifically, the CDs average particle diameters were determined to be between 1.8 and 2.0 nm for either method. The MW method also demonstrated certain advantages over the oven method in terms of required reaction time and particle yield. The total reaction and cooldown time was reduced by ∼75% (with ideal MW heating time) and an estimation of the average CDs particle density revealed that the MW method was able to produce approximately 1.2 times more particles than the oven method in less time. Correcting for the same processing time, larger yields are available in microwave synthesis. We were able to also demonstrate that both versions of synthesized CDs can serve as viable fluorescence probes for in vitro imaging experiments due to the fact that, under the determined working conditions, their fluorescence emission is significantly greater than that of cell autofluorescence [oven: p = 1.47 × 10-27 (blue), p = 6.98 × 10-4 (green); 60 second MW: p = 7.59 × 10-10 (blue), p = 3.03 × 10-4 (green)] and the CDs were not cytotoxic. This rapid, simple synthesis approach can be applied to other forms of carbon dots and serves as a high-yield alternative to hydrothermal synthesis.