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Research Article | Open Access

Graphene quantum dots: From efficient preparation to safe renal excretion

Caroline Hadad1,2,§, José Miguel González-Domínguez1,3,§, Silvia Armelloni4,, Deborah Mattinzoli4,, Masami Ikehata4, Akcan Istif1, Adrian Ostric1, Francesco Cellesi5, Carlo Maria Alfieri4,6,7, Piergiorgio Messa4,6,7, Belén Ballesteros8, Tatiana Da Ros1( )
Centre of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials (CENMAT), INSTM, Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy
Current address: Laboratoire LG2A - CNRS UMR 7378, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue Saint Leu - UFR des Sciences, 80039 Amiens, France
Instituto de Carboquímica (CSIC), C/Miguel Luesma Castán 4, E-50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Renal Research Laboratory-Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, via Pace 9, 20122 Milan, Italy
Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica "G. Natta" , Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, 20131 Milan, Italy
Unit of Nephrology, Dialysis and Renal Transplant Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, via della commenda 4, 20122 Milan, Italy
Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain

§ Caroline Hadad and José Miguel González-Domínguez contributed equally to this work.

Silvia Armelloni and Deborah Mattinzoli contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Carbon nanomaterials offer excellent prospects as therapeutic agents, and among them, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have gained considerable interest thanks to their aqueous solubility and intrinsic fluorescence, which enable their possible use in theranostic approaches, if their biocompatibility and favorable pharmacokinetic are confirmed. We prepared ultra-small GQDs using an alternative, reproducible, top-down synthesis starting from graphene oxide with a nearly 100% conversion. The materials were tested to assess their safety, demonstrating good biocompatibility and ability in passing the ultrafiltration barrier using an in vitro model. This leads to renal excretion without affecting the kidneys. Moreover, we studied the GQDs in vivo biodistribution confirming their efficient renal clearance, and we demonstrated that the internalization mechanism into podocytes is caveolae-mediated. Therefore, considering the reported characteristics, it appears possible to vehiculate compounds to kidneys by means of GQDs, overcoming problems related to lysosomal degradation.

Keywords

graphene quantum dotspodocytesbiodistributionuptake pathwayrenal clearancenanocarrier

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Nano Research
Volume 14 Issue 3,
March 2021
Pages 674-683
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-020-3096-y
Cite this article:
Hadad C, González-Domínguez JM, Armelloni S, et al. Graphene quantum dots: From efficient preparation to safe renal excretion. Nano Research, 2021, 14(3): 674-683. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3096-y
Topics:
BiocompatibilityGrapheneGraphene quantum dotsNanocrystalsSemiconductor quantum dotsTheranostics

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Received: 23 June 2020
Revised: 03 September 2020
Accepted: 06 September 2020
Published: 01 March 2021
© The Author(s) 2020

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