Issue 3, 2024

Organelle imaging with carbon dots: strategies, challenges, and perspectives

Abstract

Organelle imaging is an efficient approach to gain information about intracellular events and dynamics of subcellular structures. In this case, carbon dots (CDs) are outstanding fluorescent probes for organelle imaging due to their excellent biocompatibility, tunable and stable fluorescence, anti-photobleaching, and easy and cheap preparation. In the past decade, numerous investigations have made great progress in regulating the physicochemical properties of CDs for targeted organelle imaging. However, there are several obstacles that hinder the further understanding of subcellular events, such as the unsatisfactory organelle specificity of CDs and their inconsistent organelle-targeting mechanism. In addition, researchers have focused on how to produce organelle-targeting CDs but ignored the fact that cells and organelles also affect the subcellular distribution of CDs. Thus, in this review, we outline the development in the field of organelle-targeting imaging using CDs as probes, summarize the general strategies for targeted imaging using CDs, discuss the challenges in this field, and propose potential solutions. We hope that this review will facilitate the further development of organelle imaging using CDs as probes.

Graphical abstract: Organelle imaging with carbon dots: strategies, challenges, and perspectives

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
19 oct. 2023
Accepted
01 dic. 2023
First published
04 dic. 2023

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024,11, 713-734

Organelle imaging with carbon dots: strategies, challenges, and perspectives

Q. Mao, Y. Meng, Y. Feng, H. Li and T. Ma, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024, 11, 713 DOI: 10.1039/D3QI02145A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements