Recent Advances on Graphene Quantum Dots as Multifunctional Nanoplatforms for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), the latest member of the graphene family, have attracted enormous interest in the last few years, due to their exceptional physical, chemical, electrical, optical, and biological properties. Their strong size‐dependent photoluminescence and the presence of many reactive groups on the graphene surface allow their multimodal conjugation with therapeutic agents, targeting ligands, polymers, light responsive agents, fluorescent dyes, and functional nanoparticles, making them valuable agents for cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this review, the very recent advances covering the last 3 years on the applications of GQDs as drug delivery systems and theranostic tools for anticancer therapy are discussed, highlighting the relevant factors which regulate their biocompatibility. Among these factors, the size, kind, and degree of surface functionalization have shown to greatly affect their use in biological systems. Toxicity issues, which still represent an open challenge for the clinical development of GQDs based therapeutic agents, are also discussed at cellular and animal levels.

Carbon Based Nanodots in Early Diagnosis of Cancer

“…These processes altogether contribute to uncontrolled cell differentiation, growth, and ultimately forming malignant neoplasms. Zhang et al, 2018;Kortel et al, 2020;Iannazzo et al, 2021). GQDs also increase efficiency of anticancer drugs (Fan et al, 2019;Nasrollahi et al, 2019).…”

“…Derived from graphene, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have good biocompatibility, luminescence and dispersibility in solvents ( Younis et al, 2020 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ). Because of their intrinsic fluorescence, GQDs are ideal for anti-cancer therapy, permitting effective tracking of cells in vitro ( Dong et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ; Kortel et al, 2020 ; Iannazzo et al, 2021 ). GQDs also increase efficiency of anticancer drugs (Fan et al, 2019 ; Nasrollahi et al, 2019 ).…”

Electrochemical and Fluorescent Properties of Crown Ether Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots for Potassium and Sodium Ions Detection

“…Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) covalently conjugated with 18-crown-6 ether displayed the ability to detect K + ions down to the micromolar range [25], while an electrochemical sensor based on 1-aza-18-crown-6 functionalized GO reported a detection limit for K + ion of 10 −15 M [26]. The next generation of the graphene family, the zero dimensional graphene quantum dots (GQDs), received significant interest within academia and industry over the last few years due to their remarkable physicochemical properties [31,32]. Unlike two-dimensional graphene, GQDs have a band gap because of the quantum size effect and exhibit stable and size-dependent photoluminescence, which allows for their application in photovoltaics, electro/photo/chemical catalysis, the fabrication of flexible devices and in biosensing [33][34][35][36].…”

Eco-Friendly 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions on Graphene Quantum Dots in Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent

“…Because of their unique optical properties, these nanomaterials have also been designed for application in photovoltaics, for the development of flexible devices and in biosensing [ 4 , 5 ]. Moreover, their low toxicity, high water dispersibility, large surface to volume ratio and versatile surface functionalization with several functional groups and biologically active molecules make these nanoparticles ideal nano-carriers for drug delivery and bioimaging [ 6 , 7 ]. GQDs have been functionalized with drugs and labeled with tumor-targeting ligands able to specifically bind cancer receptors exposed on the cancer cells surface, thereby developing new therapies for a more effective delivery of toxic anticancer drugs while minimizing their impact on healthy tissues.…”

“…GQDs have been functionalized with drugs and labeled with tumor-targeting ligands able to specifically bind cancer receptors exposed on the cancer cells surface, thereby developing new therapies for a more effective delivery of toxic anticancer drugs while minimizing their impact on healthy tissues. Moreover, their photoluminescence properties allowed the development of bioimaging agents with high sensitivity in both in vitro and in vivo models of different types of cancer and advanced tools for theranostics applications [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”