Accelerated Bone Regeneration by Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Dots Functionalized with Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles

Deepak Kumar Khajuria, Vijay Bhooshan Kumar, Dana Gigi, Aharon Gedanken, David Karasik

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101 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated the osteogenic potential of nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) conjugated with hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles on the MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cell functions and in a zebrafish (ZF) jawbone regeneration (JBR) model. The NCDs-HA nanoparticles were fabricated by a hydrothermal cum co-precipitation technique. The surface structures of NCDs-HA nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction; Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV-vis, and laser fluorescence spectroscopies; and scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and NMR analyses. The TEM data confirmed that the NCDs are well conjugated on the HA nanoparticle surfaces. The fluorescent spectroscopy results indicated that the NCDs-HA exhibited promising luminescent emission in vitro. Finally, we validated the chemical structure of NCDs-HA nanoparticles on the basis of FTIR, EDS, and 31P NMR analysis and observed that NCDs are bound with HA by electrostatic interaction and H-bonding. Cell proliferation assay, alkaline phosphatase, and Alizarin red staining were used to confirm the effect of NCDs-HA nanoparticles on MC3T3-E1 osteoblast proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization, respectively. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of the osteogenic genes like runt-related transcription factor 2, alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin. ZF-JBR model was used to confirm the effect of NCDs-HA nanoparticles on bone regeneration. NCDs-HA nanoparticles demonstrated cell imaging ability, enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, and expression of the osteogenic genes in osteoblast cells, indicating possible theranostic function. Further, NCDs-HA nanoparticles significantly enhanced ZF bone regeneration and mineral density compared to HA nanoparticles, indicating a therapeutic potential of NCDs-HA nanoparticles in bone regeneration and fracture healing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19373-19385
Number of pages13
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume10
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 13 Jun 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.

Funding

The authors are grateful to the experimental assistance (fluorescence microscopy) and advice (Image-J software) of Tetiana Makhnii (PhD student) from Cell Migration and Invasion Laboratory, The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel. They acknowledge the Council for Higher Education (VATAT), Israel, for granting Postdoctoral Fellowship (vat/bat/cyc5/102) to the first author. D.K. was supported by a generous gift from the Samson Family (South Africa).

FundersFunder number
VATATvat/bat/cyc5/102
Council for Higher Education

    Keywords

    • bone regeneration
    • hydroxyapatite
    • nanoparticles
    • nitrogen-doped carbon dots
    • osteoblast cells

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