STUDY OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE COMPLEX OF CARBON-BASED QUANTUM DOTS AND COMPOUNDS WITH ANTICANCER PROPERTIES

Martynas Zalieckas^{1, 2}, Nikita Belko³, Hanna Maltanava³, Polina Kuzhir³, Renata Karpicz²

¹ Faculty of Fundamental Sciences, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio Ave. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania

² Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Saulėtekio Ave. 3, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.

³ Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Eastern Finland, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland.

[email protected]

Quinone-based drugs such as doxorubicin (DOX), daunorubicin, etc. are widely used in cancer chemotherapy. Their use has adverse side effects such as dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure [1,2]. This has led to the development of controllable nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems that allow for the targeted release of drugs at specific locations. Potential candidates for the development of such systems, heavy metal-free carbon-based quantum dots, such as: graphene quantum dots (GQD), carbon quantum dots (CQD), carbon nitride quantum dots (CNQD), are receiving increasing attention. Carbon-based quantum dots, with advanced surface functionalization and luminescent properties that allow the control of the intracellular location of nanocarrier-drug complexes, are a promising nanostructured material for theranostics, as they can simultaneously provide imaging and therapeutic effects [3]. Theranostic agents must meet several requirements. The most important condition is that it delivers the medicine to the target. To do this, it must be soluble in water and stable under physiological conditions. The nanocomplex must be biocompatible. It is highly desirable that it can be tracked optically to monitor its pharmacodynamics and accumulation in cancer tissue.

In this study, we focus to investigate the stability and optical properties of carbon nitride quantum dots (CNQD) and compounds with anticancer properties using spectroscopic methods. CNQDs were synthesized using hydrothermal synthesis from urea/thiourea and citric acid. Currently the obtained samples were characterized by measuring absorption and fluorescence spectra, fluorescence decay times and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. The interaction of these quantum dots with doxorubicin and other studies will be optically investigated in the future.

[1] Kaushik, N., Borkar, S. B., Nandanwar, S. K., Panda, P. K., Choi, E. H., & Kaushik, N. K. (2022). Nanocarrier cancer therapeutics with functional stimuli-responsive mechanisms. In Journal of Nanobiotechnology (Vol. 20, Issue 1, p. 152). BioMed Central Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-022-01364-2

[2] Kciuk, M., Gielecí Nska, A., Mujwar, S., Kołat, D., Kałuzí Nska-Kołat, Z., Celik, I., & Kontek, R. (2023). Doxorubicin-An Agent with Multiple Mechanisms of Anticancer Activity. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12040659

[3] 3. Azam, N., Ali, N., & Khan, T. J. (n.d.). Carbon Quantum Dots for Biomedical Applications: Review and Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2021.700403