Open AccessComplementary Oligonucleotide Conjugated Multicolor Carbon Dots for Intracellular Recognition of Biological Events
Author(s) -
Indrajit Srivastava,
Santosh K. Misra,
Sushant Bangru,
Kingsley A. Boateng,
Julio A. N. T. Soares,
Aaron S. Schwartz-Duval,
Auinash Kalsotra,
Dipanjan Pan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acs applied materials and interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.535
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1944-8252
pISSN - 1944-8244
DOI - 10.1021/acsami.0c02463
Subject(s) - quantum dot , quenching (fluorescence) , fluorescence , materials science , oligonucleotide , conjugated system , biophysics , dna , carbon fibers , intracellular , photoluminescence , photochemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , biochemistry , biology , polymer , optoelectronics , physics , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material
By using complementary DNA sequences as surface ligands, we selectively allow two individual diffusing "dual-color" carbon dots to interact in situ and in vitro . Spontaneous nanoscale oxidation of surface-abundant nitroso-/nitro-functionalities leads to two distinctly colored carbon dots (CD) which are isolated by polarity driven chromatographic separation. Green- and red-emitting carbon dots (gCD and rCD) were decorated by complementary single-stranded DNAs which produce a marked increase in the fluorescence emission of the respective carbon dots. Mutual colloidal interactions are achieved through hybridization of complementary DNA base pairs attached to the respective particles, resulting in quenching of their photoluminescence. The observed post-hybridization quenching is presumably due to a combined effect from an aggregation of CDs post duplex DNA formation and close proximity of multicolored CDs, having overlapped spectral regions leading to a nonradiative energy transfer process possibly released as heat. This strategy may contribute to the rational design of mutually interacting carbon dots for a better control over the resulting assembly structure for studying different biological phenomenon including molecular cytogenetics. One of the newly synthesized CDs was successfully used to image intracellular location of GAPDH mRNA using an event of change in fluorescence intensity (FI) of CDs. This selectivity was introduced by conjugating an oligonucleotide harboring complementary sequence to GAPDH mRNA. FI of this conjugated carbon dot, rCD-GAPDH, was also found to decrease in the presence of Ca 2+ , varied in relation to H + concentrations, and could serve as a tool to quantify the intracellular concentrations of Ca 2+ and pH value (H + ) which can give important information about cell survival. Therefore, CD-oligonucleotide conjugates could serve as efficient probes for cellular events and interventions.