Carbon Dots (C‐dots) from Cow Manure with Impressive Subcellular Selectivity Tuned by Simple Chemical Modification

Abstract

Improved cellular selectivity for nucleoli staining was achieved by simple chemical modification of carbon dots (C-dots) synthesized from waste carbon sources such as cow manure (or from glucose). The C-dots were characterized and functionalized (amine-passivated) with ethylenediamine, affording amide bonds that resulted in bright green fluorescence. The new modified C-dots were successfully applied as selective live-cell fluorescence imaging probes with impressive subcellular selectivity and the ability to selectively stain nucleoli in breast cancer cell lineages (MCF-7). The C-dots were also tested in four other cellular models and showed the same cellular selection in live-cell imaging experiments.