Jichuan, QiuZhang, RuibinLi, JianhuaSang, YuanhuaWei, TangRivera Gil, Pilar, 1976-Liu, Hong2024-07-112024-07-112015Qiu J, Zhang R, Li J, Sang Y, Tang W, Rivera Gil P, Liu H. Fluorescent graphene quantum dots as traceable, pH-sensitive drug delivery systems. Int J Nanomedicine. 2015 Oct 28;10:6709-24. DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S918641176-9114http://hdl.handle.net/10230/60729Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were rationally fabricated as a traceable drug delivery system for the targeted, pH-sensitive delivery of a chemotherapeutic drug into cancer cells. The GQDs served as fluorescent carriers for a well-known anticancer drug, doxorubicin (Dox). The whole system has the capacity for simultaneous tracking of the carrier and of drug release. Dox release is triggered upon acidification of the intracellular vesicles, where the carriers are located after their uptake by cancer cells. Further functionalization of the loaded carriers with targeting moieties such as arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides enhanced their uptake by cancer cells. DU-145 and PC-3 human prostate cancer cell lines were used to evaluate the anticancer ability of Dox-loaded RGD-modified GQDs (Dox-RGD-GQDs). The results demonstrated the feasibility of using GQDs as traceable drug delivery systems with the ability for the pH-triggered delivery of drugs into target cells.application/pdfeng© 2015 Qiu et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress.com/permissions.phpinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S91864Controlled releaseDrug deliveryGraphene quantum dotspH-sensitiveTraceableinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess