Dual-emission carbon dots-based biosensor for polarity/targeting bimodal recognition and mild photothermal therapy of tumor

It is essential to develop a multifunctional nanoplatform for biosensing, tumor diagnosis and treatment simultaneously. Herein, dual-emission fluorescent carbon dots (HA-CDs) were fabricated via a one-pot solvothermal method using spinach powder as carbon source and hyaluronic acid (HA) as targeting agent. The obtained HA-CDs exhibited outstanding optical properties, good targeted tumor and excellent photothermal conversion performance. Interestingly, HA-CDs can sensitively perceive the changes in polar environments attributed to the inherent ratiometric fluorescence characteristics, and combined with the intrinsic targeting tumor ability achieved tumor cell recognition. More importantly, the HA-CDs possess good photothermal conversion efficiency of 21.2 % to be beneficial for photothermal therapy of tumors. The survival rate of HeLa cells incubated with HA-CDs dramatically decreased to 14 % after 660 nm laser irradiation, revealing the significant tumor inhibition of HA-CDs in vitro. Notably, through individual intraperitoneal and intratumoral injection, it was found that HA-CDs demonstrated a similar tumor suppressed effect on 4T1 tumor-bearing mice exposed to laser irradiation, fully uncovering that HA-CDs can efficiently accumulate at tumor site by intraperitoneal injection. Besides, the histopathological analysis of major organs ex vivo revealed a good biosafety profile. Collectively, this strategy of designed HA-CDs provides a new multifunctional nanoplatform for potential clinical application.