Open AccessSimultaneous Gene Delivery and Tracking through Preparation of Photo-Luminescent Nanoparticles Based on Graphene Quantum Dots and Chimeric Peptides
Author(s) -
Soroush Moasses Ghafary,
Maryam Nikkhah,
Shadie Hatamie,
Saman Hosseinkhani
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-09890-y
Subject(s) - graphene , raman spectroscopy , quantum dot , photoluminescence , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , materials science , gene delivery , transmission electron microscopy , nanoparticle , confocal microscopy , confocal , covalent bond , nanotechnology , conjugated system , luminescence , scanning electron microscope , microscopy , chemistry , transfection , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , gene , optics , biochemistry , organic chemistry , polymer , physics , engineering , composite material
Designing suitable nano-carriers for simultaneous gene delivery and tracking is in the research priorities of the molecular medicine. Non-toxic graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with two different (green and red) emission colors are synthesized by Hummer’s method and characterized by UV-Vis, Photoluminescence (PL), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The GQDs are conjugated with MPG-2H1 chimeric peptide and plasmid DNA (pDNA) by non-covalent interactions. Following conjugation, the average diameter of the prepared GQDs increased from 80 nm to 280 nm in complex structure, and the ζ-potential of the complex increased (from −36.87 to −2.56 mV). High transfection efficiency of the nano-carrier and results of confocal microscopy demonstrated that our construct can be considered as a nontoxic carrier with dual functions for gene delivery and nuclear targeting.