Application Of Lysosome Targeting Carbon Dots In PH Detection

Carbon dots(CDs)have small size,tunable photoluminescence,non-toxicity,excellent stability and biocompatibility,which endow CDs with a wide range of applications in the biomedical field.We successfully prepared fluorescent CDs via hydrothermal method,and characterized their physical and chemical properties by various analytical techniques,and carried out their application in pH detection.The main content is as follows:CDs were successfully synthesized by using p-phenylenediamine and thiourea as starting materials via hydrothermal method,which have an average size of 7.8 ± 0.65 nm.Through the structural analysis of CDs,it was found that the surface of CDs contains abundant hydrophilic functional groups,such as amine groups,carboxyl groups,and hydroxyl groups,which render them good water solubility.In addition,CDs also have excellent photoluminescence properties and stability.Most importantly,the fluorescence of CDs has excellent pH response,excellent reversibility and anti-interference performance.We proved that CDs have lysosome targeting function through lysosome colocalization experiments.Compared with commercial lysosome probes(LTR),CDs have higher photostability.With the help of laser confocal scanning microscopy and in vivo fluorescence imaging system,we have demonstrated that CDs can not only detect pH changes in living cells and inflammatory cells,but also track the pH fluctuations of inflammatory sites in vivo.This work provides a new idea for studying the pH related physiological and pathological processes.