Carbon Dots: A Future Blood–Brain Barrier Penetrating Nanomedicine and Drug Nanocarrier
Open Access
- 1 July 2021
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in International Journal of Nanomedicine
- Vol. ume 16, 5003-5016
- https://doi.org/10.2147/ijn.s318732
Abstract
Drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is one of the biggest challenges in modern medicine due to the BBB's highly semipermeable property that limits most therapeutic agents of brain diseases to enter the central nervous system (CNS). In recent years, nanoparticles, especially carbon dots (CDs), exhibit many unprecedented applications for drug delivery. Several types of CDs and CD-ligand conjugates have been reported successfully penetrating the BBB, which shows a promising progress in the application of CD-based drug delivery system (DDS) for the treatment of CNS diseases. In this review, our discussion of CDs includes their classification, preparations, structures, properties, and applications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD) and brain tumor. Moreover, abundant functional groups on the surface, especially amine and carboxyl groups, allow CDs to conjugate with diverse drugs as versatile drug nanocarriers. In addition, structure of the BBB is briefly described, and mechanisms for transporting various molecules across the BBB and other biological barriers are elucidated. Most importantly, recent developments in drug delivery with CDs as BBB-penetrating nanodrugs and drug nanocarriers to target CNS diseases especially Alzheimer's disease and brain tumor are summarized. Eventually, future prospects of the CD-based DDS are discussed in combination with the development of artificial intelligence and nanorobots.Keywords
This publication has 106 references indexed in Scilit:
- A low-temperature solid-phase method to synthesize highly fluorescent carbon nitride dots with tunable emissionChemical Communications, 2013
- One-step ultrasonic synthesis of fluorescent N-doped carbon dots from glucose and their visible-light sensitive photocatalytic abilityNew Journal of Chemistry, 2012
- Cationic nanoparticles for cancer therapyExpert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2010
- Carbon Dots as Nontoxic and High-Performance Fluorescence Imaging AgentsThe Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2009
- Carbon Dots for Optical Imaging in VivoJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2009
- Microwave synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles with electrochemiluminescence propertiesChemical Communications, 2009
- Carbon Dots for Multiphoton BioimagingJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2007
- Modulatory Neurotransmitter Systems and Behavior: Towards Zebrafish Models of Neurodegenerative DiseasesZebrafish, 2006
- Brain tumor treatment: Chemotherapy and other new developmentsSeminars in Oncology Nursing, 2004
- Targeted Drug Delivery via the Transferrin Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis PathwayPharmacological Reviews, 2002