Graphene quantum dots from pyrolytic condensation of aspartic acid and glycerol for ratiometric fluorosensing of lactic acid in cancer cells

Asif, Seikh, Morgan, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6571-5731 and Sen, Kamalika 2025. Graphene quantum dots from pyrolytic condensation of aspartic acid and glycerol for ratiometric fluorosensing of lactic acid in cancer cells. Diamond and Related Materials 157 , 112547. 10.1016/j.diamond.2025.112547 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

In this study, strongly luminescent Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) of high quantum yield (QY ≈ 46 %) were synthesized by pyrolysis of aspartic acid in glycerol. Here we report the use of GQDs as a fluorescence ratiometric probe towards lactic acid (LA) in both serum and MCF-7 cell lysate medium. A remarkably low limit of detection (LOD) was found in serum medium (0.294 μM) and in MCF-7 cell extract (6.917 μM). Isothermal titration calorimetric studies yielded highly negative (−80.0 kcal mol−1) ΔH value in serum medium which suggested exothermic interactions between GQDs and lactic acid. The sensing capacity of the GQDs was further validated in presence of various interfering agents such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, nitrate, phosphate, glucose, cholesterol and uric acid in serum medium. Monitoring the amounts of LA in cancer cells is crucial as LA plays a significant role in the proliferation of cells. We therefore evaluated the performance of our ratiometric probe in measuring the intracellular LA concentration in MCF-7 cell lysate. The calibration curve of LA in MCF-7 cell lysate generated alongside in the concentration range 4.180–42.37 μM helped in accurately identifying the concentration of LA in cancer cells.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Chemistry Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0925-9635
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	11 June 2025
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2025 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179742

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