Multifaceted Carbon Dots: toward pH-Responsive Delivery of 5-Fluorouracil for In Vitro Antiproliferative Activity

Thesynthesis of smart hybrid material to assimilate diagnosisand treatment is crucial in nanomedicine. Herein, we present a simpleand facile method to synthesize multitalented blue-emissive nitrogen-dopedcarbon dots N@PEGCDs. The as-prepared carbon dots N@PEGCDs show enhanced biocompatibility, small size, highfluorescence, and high quantum yield. The N@PEGCDs areused as a drug carrier for 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with more releaseat acidic pH. Furthermore, the mode of action of drug-loaded CD (5FU-N@PEGCDs) has also been explored by performing wound healingassay, DCFDA assay for ROS generation, and Hoechst staining. The drugloaded with carbon dots showed less toxicity to normal cells comparedto cancer cells, making it a perfect candidate to be studied for designingnext-generation drug delivery systems.