Fluorescent carbon nanodots (C-dots; 4.3 AE 0.8 nm) from fresh tender ginger juice provide high suppression of the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2), with low toxicity to normal mammary epithelial cells (MCF-10A) and normal liver cells (FL83B). The inhibition is selective to HepG2 over other tested cancer cells, including human lung cancer cell line (A549), human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231), and human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). Western blot results reveal that the C-dots up-regulate the expression of p53 protein only in the HepG2 cell line. The 50% inhibiting concentration (IC 50 ) value of the C-dots on HepG2 cells is 0.35 mg mL À1 . Image cytometry results show significant uptake of C-dots by HepG2 cells that induce intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS, 18.2-fold increased), while other cells remain almost the same in ROS levels after treatment with C-dots (1.11 mg mL À1 ). The C-dots trigger the pro-apoptotic factor to promote HepG2 cell apoptosis. The C-dots effectively inhibit the growth of tumors in nude mice (104 AE 14 vs. 3.7 AE 0.2 mg with and without treatment within 14 days).

We have developed a fluorescence approach for the highly selective and sensitive detection of Pb(2+) ions using AGRO100, a G-quadruplex DNAzyme. The sensing strategy is based on Pb(2+) ions inducing increased DNAzyme activity of AGRO100 in the presence of hemin, which acts as a cofactor to catalyze H(2)O(2)-mediated oxidation of Amplex UltraRed (AUR). A test of eight aptamers of various sequences for the detection of Pb(2+) ions revealed that AGRO100 performed the best in terms of sensitivity. The AGRO100-AUR probe exhibited high selectivity (>100-fold) toward Pb(2+) ions over other tested metal ions. The fluorescence intensity (excitation/emission maxima, ca. 561/592 nm) of the AUR product was proportional to the concentration of Pb(2+) ions over the range 0-1000 nM, with a linear correlation (R(2) = 0.98). For 5 mM Tris-acetate (pH 7.4) solutions in the presence and absence of 100 mM NaCl, the AGRO100-AUR probe provided limits of detection (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) for Pb(2+) ions of 1.0 and 0.4 nM, respectively. We validated the practicality of the use of the AGRO100-AUR probe for the determination of the concentrations of Pb(2+) ions in soil samples. This approach allows the determination of the concentrations of Pb(2+) ions with simplicity, selectivity, and sensitivity.

Apoptosis (programmed cell death) is linked to many incurable neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and cancer causing diseases. Numerous methods have been developed for imaging apoptotic cells in vitro; however, there are few methods available for imaging apoptotic cells in live animals (in vivo). Here we report a novel method utilizing the unique photoluminescence properties of plant leaf-derived graphene quantum dots (GQDs) modified with annexin V antibody (AbA5) to form (AbA5)-modified GQDs (AbA5-GQDs) enabling us to label apoptotic cells in live zebrafish (Danio rerio). The key is that zebrafish shows bright red photoluminescence in the presence of apoptotic cells. The toxicity of the GQDs has also been investigated with the GQDs exhibiting high biocompatibility as they were excreted from the zebrafish's body without affecting its growth significantly at a concentration lower than 2 mg mL(-1) over a period of 4 to 72 hour post fertilization. The GQDs have further been used to image human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7 cells), human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa cells), and normal human mammary epithelial cell line (MCF-10A). These results are indispensable to further the advance of graphene-based nanomaterials for biomedical applications.