Bioimaging Ability Research Articles

Manipulation of aurophilicity in constructed clusters of gold(I) complexes with boosted luminescence and smart responsiveness

High-performance luminescent gold(I) complexes have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in various fields, but their construction is a significantly challenging task. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of novel dinuclear gold(I) complexes 1–4 based on 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene and 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene frameworks, where para-substitutions of benzene ring were employed for comparison and bulky t-butyl groups were introduced into carbazole ligands to assist flexibly regulating the aurophilicity. Among them, the structure of complex 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and all the complexes exhibited typical aggregation-induced emission characteristics. Due to the construction of intramolecular aurophilicity and the formation of molecular clusters, noticeable enhancement of the luminescent efficiency was achieved for the core complex 1. Together with the introduction of flexible t-butyl groups, good responsiveness towards external mechanical force and solvent vapors were also realized. Moreover, the specific bioimaging ability of complex 1 towards cancer cells was demonstrated. Thus, this work presents the crucial capability of aurophilic manipulation in tuning the luminescence and smart behaviors of gold complexes, and it will open a new route to developing high-performance luminescent materials.

A rhodamine-based fluorescent probe for specific recognition of mitochondrial cysteine

Cysteine (Cys) is of great significance in biological systems and in the process of mitochondrial function. Highly selective and specificity recognizable probes for mitochondrial Cys are still in demand. In this work, a new fluorescent probe for detecting mitochondrial Cys was developed based on a rhodamine derivative. In this probe, acrylate unit was selected as group of Cys recognition and quaternized pyridinium moiety was utilized as mitochondrial targeting group. The probe showed colorless in daylight and extremely weak fluorescence in 365 nm due to its spirolactone structure when Cys did not exist. In the presence of Cys, the probe exhibited orange in daylight and produced intensely green fluorescence in 365 nm owing to the formation of the conjugated xanthene structure. The probe exhibited specific recognition for Cys. There was an excellent linear relationship between fluorescence intensity at 540 nm of the probe and the Cys concentration from 4.0 × 10-8 to 1.0 × 10-5 mol⋅L-1. And the detection limit was estimated to be 1.57 × 10-8 mol/L. Moreover, the probe was almost non-cytotoxic, possessed targeting-mitochondria ability and could sense Cys at the cellular level. The good bioimaging ability makes the probe a potential tool for studying mitochondrial Cys in biological samples.

Synthesis of multicolor luminescent carbon dots based on carboxymethyl chitosan for cell imaging and wound healing application: In vitro and in vivo studies

The construction of biomaterials that can facilitate wound healing is significantly challenging in the medical field, and bacterial infections increase this complexity. In this study, we selected the biomacromolecule carboxymethyl chitosan as a carbon source and citric acid as an auxiliary carbon source. We prepared carbon quantum dots with multicolor luminescence properties and higher quantum yields (QYs) using a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. We characterized them to select carbon dots (CDs) suitable for cell growth. Subsequently, their biocompatibility with L929 cells, antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus, and efficiency in promoting wound healing in vivo were investigated. Our experimental results showed that CDs at an appropriate concentration had excellent bioimaging ability, were suitable for cell growth, and accelerated the healing of infected wounds. We believe these bioactive CDs have great potential in promoting wound healing.

Investigation of the Relationship between Electronic Structures and Bioactivities of Polypyridyl Ru(II) Complexes.

Ruthenium (Ru)-based organometallic drugs have gained attention as chemotherapeutic and bioimaging agents due to their fewer side effects and excellent physical optical properties. Tuning the electronic structures of Ru complexes has been proven to increase the cytotoxicity of cancer cells and the luminescent efficiency of the analytical probes. However, the relationship between electronic structures and bioactivities is still unclear due to the potential enhancement of both electron donor and acceptor properties. Thus, we investigated the relationship between the electronic structures of Ru(II) complexes and cytotoxicity by optimizing the electron-withdrawing (complex 1), electron-neutral (complex 2), and electron-donating (complex 3) ligands through DFT calculations, bioactivities tests, and docking studies. Our results indicated that it was not sufficient to consider only either the effect of electron-withdrawing or electron-donating effects on biological activities instead of the total electronic effects. Furthermore, these complexes with electron-donating substituents (complex 3) featured unique "off-on" luminescent emission phenomena caused by the various "HOMO-LUMO" distributions when they interacted with DNA, while complex with electron-withdrawing substituent showed an "always-on" signature. These findings offer valuable insight into the development of bifunctional chemotherapeutic agents along with bioimaging ability.

Spleen-Targeted mRNA Delivery by Amphiphilic Carbon Dots for Tumor Immunotherapy

In recent years, the application of mRNA vaccine-based tumor immunotherapy invigorated anti-tumor therapy. However, the low efficiency of mRNA delivery and the lack of targeting ability in vivo are the major obstacles to achieving highly efficient immunotherapy. In this work, we report a chemical library of amphiphilic carbon dots (ACDs) and the synthesized ACDs were applied to mRNA delivery, bio-imaging, and tumor immunotherapy. The ACDs can smoothly bind with mRNA to form ACDs@mRNA nanocomplexes, and the fluorescent properties of the ACDs afforded the nanoparticles with bio-imaging ability. By screening of the ACDs, O12-Tta-CDs were found to have optimal mRNA transfection efficiency and the ability of spleen-targeted delivery. In addition, O12-Tta-CDs can well transfect the immune cells and promote the maturation and antigen presentation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Furthermore, O12-Tta-CDs@OVA-mRNA was successfully applied to inhibit tumor growth, and more specific T-cell infiltration was observed in spleen and tumors of mice after treatment in the E.G7-OVA tumor model. Besides, O12-Tta-CDs@OVA-mRNA also achieved a good therapeutic effect in tumor recurrence inhibition and tumor prophylactic experiments. This study provided a new direction for the design of mRNA vectors, which is promising in tumor immunotherapy.

Enantioselective theranostics of brain glioma using chiral quantum structures

CdSe/CdS dot-in-rods (DRs) tailored by chiral biomolecules are promising candidates for biological theranostics. The authors of this study synthesised chiral CdSe/CdS DRs with different sizes using the post-ligand-exchange method. Their high-resolution imaging and cytotoxicity performances were investigated, respectively. The results suggested that the chiral cysteine coverage strategy could significantly enhance the biocompatibility of CdSe/CdS DRs in bioimaging and bioimaging-guided therapies. Numerous photodynamic and chemodynamic therapy studies for brain glioma cells demonstrated enantioselective efficacy, wherein chiral DRs could exhibit improved oxygen species and hydroxyl radical generations under corresponding circularly polarised light radiation. d-DRs with right-handed circularly polarised light activation could generally present 3.14/1.5 times higher efficacy than left-handed or linearly polarised light irradiated samples. Wound-healing assay/migration and invasion assays asserted that the applications of chiral DRs could suppress the infiltrative growth and metastasis of glioma cells by reducing the migration and invasion ability by nearly 50%. In vivo experiments also confirmed that d-DRs exerted more substantial enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects in the tumour tissue, leading to better bioimaging ability and efficient tumour ablation. Such adjuvant approaches would be a viable alternative to cancer treatments with a high possibility of recurrence and poor prognosis.

Aggregation-Induced emission photosensitizer with lysosomal response for photodynamic therapy against cancer

Photosensitizers play a key role in bioimaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. However, conventional photosensitizers usually do not achieve the desired efficacy in PDT due to their poor photostability, targeting ability, and responsiveness. Herein, we designed a series of photosensitizers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect using benzothiazole- triphenylamine (BZT-triphenylamine) as the parent nucleus. The synthesized compound SIN ((E)-2-(4-(diphenylamino)styryl)-3-(4-iodobutyl)benzo[d]thiazol-3-ium) exhibits good biocompatibility, photostability, and bright emission in the near-infrared range (600–800 nm). The fluorescence emission intensity is responsive to viscosity, with significant fluorescence enhancement (48 times) and high fluorescence quantum yield (4.45 %) at high viscosity. Moreover, SIN has particular lysosome targeting properties with a Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) of 0.97 and has good 1O2 generation ability under white light irradiation, especially in a weak acidic environment. Thus, SIN can realize good bioimaging ability and photodynamic therapeutic efficacy under the highly viscous and weakly acidic environment of lysosomes in the tumor cells. This study indicates that SIN has potential as a multifunctional organic photosensitizer for bioimaging and PDT of tumor.

Red-emitting carbon dots aggregates-based fluorescent probe for monitoring Cu2.

R-CDAs have been synthesizedin a one-pot solvothermal procedure starting from 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid in an acidic medium. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that R-CDAs nanoparticles exhibited a much larger diameter of 7.2-28.8nm than traditional monodisperse carbon dots. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed the presence of polar functional groups (hydroxyl, amino, carboxyl) on the surface of R-CDAs. Upon excitation with visible light (550nm), R-CDAs emit stable, red fluorescence with a maximum at 610nm. Under the optimum conditions, Cu2+ ions quench the fluorescence of this probe, and the signal is linear in a concentration range of copper ions between 5 and 600nM with the detection limit of only 0.4nM. Recoveries from 98.0 to 105.0% and relative standard deviations (RSD) from 2.8 to 4.5% have been obtained for detection of Cu2+ in real water samples. Furthermore, the R-CDAs fluorescent probe showed negligible cytotoxicity toward HeLa cells and good bioimaging ability, suggesting its potential applicability as a diagnostic tool in biomedicine.

A conjugated aptamer and oligonucleotides-stabilized gold nanoclusters nanoplatform for targeted fluorescent imaging and efficient drug delivery

A facile approach is designed for the configuration of aptamer-gold nanoclusters nanohybrid for dual-modal of targeted fluorescent imaging and efficient drug delivery. Morphological and structural investigations indicate that Apt-C30 @AuNCs with intrinsic fluorescence consists in oligonucleotides dopped with AuNCs with an average diameter of 2–3 nm. Based on cell viability assays, Apt-C30 @AuNCs exhibit good biocompatibility. Considering that chemotherapeutic drugs such as DOX can intercalate into the base pairs of DNA, Apt-C30 @AuNCs is performed to delivery DOX. Results clearly demonstrate that Apt-C30 @AuNCs/DOX can be effectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells growth. Moreover, functionalized with aptamer, Apt-C30 @AuNCs owns the ability to bind specifically to MUC1 protein overexpressed on HeLa cells, and the viability of HeLa cells is quite low after treated with Apt-C30 @AuNCs/DOX. In vitro, fluorescent imaging results demonstrate that Apt-C30 @AuNCs present a significantly increase in the internalization and bioimaging ability, attributing to the biofunctionalization of C30 @AuNCs with aptamer. Apt-C30 @AuNCs could be successfully exploited as nanovehicles for efficient drug delivery and fluorescent agents for cellular staining, which can be used in potential application of image-guided cancer diagnosis and therapy fields.

Valorization of cellulose pulp derived carbon quantum dots by controllable fractionation

Fabrication and valorization of carbon quantum dots from lignocellulosic biomass is of significant importance. Herein, this study presents a simple and controllable route to prepare nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped CQDs (N,P-CQDs) in a one-pot synthesis from cellulose pulp. The subsequent fractionation based on molecular weight yielded three fractions of N,P-CQDs, i.e., N,P-CQDs-3500, N,P-CQDs-1000, and N,P-CQDs-500. The characteristics of each fraction N,P-CQDs were comprehensively evaluated. The fractionation endowed each fraction of N,P-CQDs with unique and different properties. The results showed that the resultant of N,P-CQDs were explored as a probe for pH detection, metal ions detection, and cell imaging. N,P-CQDs-500 exhibited unique selectivity towards Fe(II), which is novel and of importance in the biological process. The N,P-CQDs-1000 is sensitive to pH and has the potential to be a pH probe. The N,P-CQDs-3500 showed excellent bio-imaging ability in five cancer cells, and different performance on suspension and adherent cells. This study will not only help to expand the applications of lignocellulosic biomass for preparing CQDs, but also help to achieve upgrading of cellulose pulp into a high value-added product.

Polyacrylic acid complexes to mineralize ultrasmall europium-doped calcium phosphate nanodots for fluorescent bioimaging

Nano calcium phosphate (nCaP), a bone mineral in mammals, shows a promising prospect in biomedicine. Herein, we report a biomimetic mineralization strategy, based on stoichiometric polyacrylic acid (PAA) complexation-precipitation process, to facilitate the development of nCaP as bioimaging agents. As a result, the monodisperse and sub-10 nm europium-doped calcium phosphate nanodots (PAA-Eu:CaP NDs) is controllably obtained with enhanced fluorescence properties, tumor passive targeting and bioimaging ability. Compared with europium-doped calcium phosphate nanoparticles (Eu:CaP NPs), the fluorescence emission, quantum yield and lifetime of PAA-Eu:CaP NDs are significantly improved up to 3.84, 4.48 and 5.59 times, respectively. Deriving from the synergy of surface effect and organic/inorganic hybrid crystal field effect, such CaP matrix brings to local asymmetry environment and distinguished anti-quenching for Eu3+ ion. The strongest radiance signal is improved to 117 % for in vivo imaging; moreover, the tumor accumulation is obviously increased to 5.15 times, and 7.09 times for tumor permeability. The accumulation is decreased 80.2 %, 79.4 % and 70.2 % in liver, spleen and lung suggesting lower clearance by mononuclear phagocyte system, while it’s increased up to 15.4 times in kidney indicating higher renal clearance. Eventually, it’s convinced that this study can provide help for promoting CaP application in nanomedicine.

Metal-Based Aggregation-Induced Emission Theranostic Systems.

Efficient theranostic systems can realize better outcomes in disease treatment because of precise diagnosis and the concomitant effective therapy. Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) are a unique type of organic emitters with intriguing photophysical properties in the aggregate state. Among the AIEgens studied for biomedical applications, so far, metal-based AIE systems have shown great potential in theranostics due to the enhanced multimodal bioimaging ability and therapeutic effect. This research field has been growing rapidly, and many rationally designed systems with promising activities to cancer and other diseases have been reported recently. In this review, we summarized the recent progress of metal-based AIE materials in bioimaging and biological theranostics, and deciphered the pertinent design strategies. We hope that this review can offer new insights into the development of this growing field.

High-efficient and pH-sensitive orange luminescence from silicon-doped carbon dots for information encryption and bio-imaging

The exploration of carbon dots (CDs) with high quantum yield, facile synthesis path and satisfying output for their multiple applications remains a challenge. Thus, a silicon-doped orange-emitting carbon dots (O-CDs) is synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method o-phenylenediamine and ethyl orthosilicate as raw materials. The O-CDs exhibits a bright and non-excitation-dependent emission peaking at 580 nm, and the corresponding quantum yield could be greatly boosted from 39.2 % to 64.1 % by silicon doping. The obtained O-CDs possess good biocompatibility and promising luminescence stability with varying solvents, ionic concentrations and temperatures. Its bio-imaging ability is performed by incubating zebrafish embryos with O-CDs aqueous solution, and clear in-vivo fluorescent images are obtained. Furthermore, due to its high-efficient and specific pH-sensitive emission with excellent dispersibility, the O-CDs can be used as a fluorescent ink for dual-model data encry/decryption in both hand-writing and stamp printing. Therefore, the as-prepared O-CDs show the potential as promising candidate for biomedical diagnosis, data encryption, and anti-counterfeiting.

Photoluminescence with an unusual open-loop and rigid delocalized conjugated structure in quantum dots

It is well known that almost all photoluminescent molecules are aromatic or heterocyclic ring compounds for bioimaging analysis. A question remains as to whether a breakthrough can be achieved regarding a novel photoluminescent molecule without a ring structure, and in a what manner. In this study, we explored the photoelectric conversion and structure of photoluminescent compounds, and constructed an intra-molecular coupling positive–negative-junction (PNJ) with an open-loop and rigid Π56 delocalized conjugated structure of the coupling p-π conjugate system. This was performed to enable strong absorption of the R/tail-end band for the high probability of an n → π*/n → σ* electron transition for photoluminescence production. Subsequently, the Π56 structure was formed in a short-chain aliphatic molecule as a hydrolytic product of citric acid and urea, and computational methodology was employed to estimate the feasibility of the molecule photoluminescence. Finally, a quantum dot material was fabricated from the aliphatic molecule, the optical properties of the quantum dots were investigated, and the biocompatibility and bioimaging ability of quantum dots were assessed. This work presents not only a theoretical exploration but also practical application of a new strategy to obtain molecules, compounds, and materials with bioimaging.

In Vivo Imaging and Tracking Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecule-3 with an NIR Fluorescent Probe.

As a water-soluble carbon monoxide-releasing molecule, CORM-3 is widely used as a CO donor to study CO in the life system. CORM-3 can also replace gaseous CO as a therapeutic drug molecule to reveal the physiological and pathological effects of CO in life. Therefore, it is of great importance to visualize and track CORM-3 in the life system. We develop herein a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe CORM3-NIR that can detect CORM-3 both in living cells and in vivo effectively. The probe is based on the unique fluorescent QCy7 and uses a 4-nitrobenzyl group to trap CORM-3, and importantly, it shows good water solubility and responds rapidly, selectively, and sensitively to CORM-3, releasing QCy-7 and producing distinct colorimetric and significant NIR fluorescence change signals at 743 nm. The Stokes shift is up to 81 nm. The probe is also able to detect CORM-3 ratiometrically with fluorescence at 743 and 600 nm. Besides, with low cytotoxicity, the probe also shows good NIR fluorescence bioimaging ability for CORM-3 in live cells and mice, which indicates that CORM3-NIR is an effective probe for tracking and studying CORM-3 in the life system.

Emerging biogenesis technologies of extracellular vesicles for tissue regenerative therapeutics

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, carry the genetic packages of RNA, DNA, and proteins and are heavily involved in cell-cell communications and intracellular signalings. Therefore, EVs are spotlighted as therapeutic mediators for the treatment of injured and dysfunctional tissues as well as biomarkers for the detection of disease status and progress. Several key issues in EVs, including payload content and bioactivity, targeting and bio-imaging ability, and mass-production, need to be improved to enable effective therapeutics and clinical translation. For this, significant efforts have been made recently, including genetic modification, biomolecular and chemical treatment, application of physical/mechanical cues, and 3D cultures. Here we communicate those recent technological advances made mainly in the biogenesis process of EVs or at post-collection stages, which ultimately aimed to improve the therapeutic efficacy in tissue healing and disease curing and the possibility of clinical translation. This communication will help tissue engineers and biomaterial scientists design and produce EVs optimally for tissue regenerative therapeutics.

Potassium Ion Fluorescence Probes: Structures, Properties and Bioimaging

AbstractAs one of the most important minerals in the body, potassium is vital for the heart and neurons. Methods that can non‐invasively and accurately monitor changes in potassium balances would benefit disease diagnoses as well as offer insight into pathologies. Among the sensing approaches, fluorescent probes serve as a unique detection method for its simplicity, tunable detection range, and bioimaging ability. The design of new probes with highly selective K+ receptors and transduction functionality remains a challenge that is motivated by numerous sensing and detection applications. In this minireview, fluoroionophores are summarized that undergo transduction, producing fluorescence signals when interacting with, e. g., potassium ions. The properties of ionophores (afford selective interaction with potassium) and fluorophores (generate signal read‐out) are discussed. Molecular structure design and sensing mechanisms are included along with cell imaging applications. The selectivity towards K+ and the absorption/emission characteristics of the probes are of particular interest.

Monodisperse functionalized GO for high-performance sensing and bioimaging of Cu2+ through synergistic enhancement effect

The metal ion fluorescence probes based on chemical reactions triggered by specific metal ions is characterized by high selectivity. However, they are also subject to inherent limitations, such as easy aggregation under water solution, poor optical stability, and long response time. In order to solve these problems, a simple and effective method was studied. The specific design is as follows. Fluorescence probe RACD is assembled onto a single layer graphene oxide (GO) via π-π interaction and hydrogen bonding to prepare RACD functionlized graphene oxide RACD/GO. The experimental results show that the resulting RACD/GO possesses very well monodispersion, hydrophilicity and photostability, particularly reduce the aggregation degree of RACD owing to π-π effect. Simultaneously, it was found that due to the strong synergy between GO and RACD, the response time, selectivity, anti-interference ability, detection sensitivity, detection limit and bioimaging ability of RACD/GO were significantly improved compared with RACD. The resulting RACD/GO not only possesses very well photostability, multiple repeated cycles, but also have been triumphantly put into the monitoring Cu2+ of environmental water, sewage, cells and zebrafish specimens in practice. The detection limit is as low as 1.76 nM, and the correlation coefficient is 0.9998.

Fluorescent nanoparticles with ultralow chromophore loading for long-term tumor-targeted imaging

Recently, organic dyes with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) have attracted much attention in bioimaging and diagnostics. Relatively, the application of traditional dyes has diminished because of aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ). In this work, we compare the imaging ability of nanoparticle formulations of these two kinds of dyes. Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was chosen as a representative of the ACQ dyes, and an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye BPMT was used for comparison. BODIPY and BPMT were entrapped into PEG5k-PLA10k to form BODIPY-loaded NPs (BNPs) and BPMT-loaded NPs (ANPs), respectively. In vivo and ex vivo imaging demonstrated that BNP1 with ultralow BODIPY load (0.07%) can effectively accumulate in tumor tissues and enable long-term noninvasive imaging. In contrast, ANP4 with high BPMT load (1.6%) has poor bioimaging ability. In general, our work has certain reference significance for the application of ACQ dyes and AIEgens in bioimaging, diagnostics, and theranostics. Statement of SignificanceIn this work, Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was chosen as a representative of ACQ dyes. As a control, (Z)-2-(4′-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)-3-(7-(4-(bis(4methoxyphenyl)amino) phenyl) benzo[c] [1,2,5] thiadiazol-4-yl) acrylonitrile (BPMT) was selected as an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye. BODIPY and BPMT was entrapped into PEG5k-PLA10k to form BODIPY-loaded NPs (BNPs) and BPMT-loaded NPs (ANPs), respectively. In vivo and ex vivo imaging demonstrated that BNP1 with ultralow BODIPY load (0.07%) can effectively accumulate in tumor tissues and realize long-term noninvasive imaging. The weaknesses of ACQ effect can be converted into advantages by skillful use of nanotechnology, which can not only save the cost but also realize high efficiency targeted cancer imaging.

Multifunctional N-P-doped carbon dots for regulation of apoptosis and autophagy in B16F10 melanoma cancer cells and in vitro imaging applications

Rationale: The present study reports the multifunctional anticancer activity against B16F10 melanoma cancer cells and the bioimaging ability of fluorescent nitrogen-phosphorous-doped carbon dots (NPCDs).Methods: The NPCDs were synthesized using a single-step, thermal treatment and were characterized by TEM, XPS, fluorescence and UV-Vis spectroscopy, and FTIR analysis. The anticancer efficacy of NPCDs was confirmed by using cell viability assay, morphological evaluation, fluorescent live-dead cell assay, mitochondrial potential assay, ROS production, RT-PCR, western-blot analysis, siRNA transfection, and cellular bioimaging ability.Results: The NPCDs inhibited the proliferation of B16F10 melanoma cancer cells after 24 h of treatment and induced apoptosis, as confirmed by the presence of fragmented nuclei, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, and elevated levels of reactive oxygen species. The NPCDs treatment further elevated the levels of pro-apoptotic factors and down-regulated the level of Bcl2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) that weakened the mitochondrial membrane, and activated proteases such as caspases. Treatment with NPCDs also resulted in dose-dependent cell cycle arrest, as indicated by reduced cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-2, -4, and -6 protein levels and an enhanced level of p21. More importantly, the NPCDs induced the activation of autophagy by upregulating the protein expression levels of LC3-II and ATG-5 (autophagy-related-5) and by downregulating p62 level, validated by knockdown of ATG-5. Additionally, owing to their excellent luminescence property, these NPCDs were also applicable in cellular bioimaging, as evidenced by the microscopic fluorescence imaging of B16F10 melanoma cells.Conclusion: Based on these findings, we conclude that our newly synthesized NPCDs induced cell cycle arrest, autophagy, and apoptosis in B16F10 melanoma cells and presented good cellular bioimaging capability.