ArticleNature communications2021
Photodegradation of carbon dots cause cytotoxicity.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed.
- The promotion effect of carbon quantum dots derived from maize stalks on the photosynthesis of maize growth.Bioresources and bioprocessing · 2026Article
- 3D mesoporous graphene nanoparticle-mediated transient silencing of susceptibility genes confers broad-spectrum disease resistance in crops.Plant communications · 2026Article
- Frequency resonance amplification in ultrasound-induced long-lasting afterglow.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Multifunctional Bio-Based Packaging for Perishable Foods: Structural Design, Scalable Fabrication, and Versatile Applications.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Review
- Carbon Nanodot-enabled Fluorescent Nerve Conduits for Peripheral Nerve Repair: A Systematic Review of Translational Readiness.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- Carbon Dots in Nanomedicine: Advanced Fabrication, Biomedical Applications, and Future Clinical Perspectives.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Machine-Learning-Assisted Carbon Dots: From Algorithms to Applications and Beyond.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Bioactive Amino-Carbon Dots for Sustainable Crop Protection: Cellular Uptake and Metabolomic Insights into the Antifungal and Antibacterial Activity in Tomato Plants.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2026Article
- Fabrication of Size-Controlled Carbon Dots with Biofilm-Disrupting Activity for Antibacterial Applications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Understanding the Toxicity of Carbon Dots: The Role of Synthesis Variability, Surface Chemistry, and Biological Context.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Engineering NIR-II carbon dots through aniline extension with graphene and nitrogen enrichment for hepatobiliary theranostics.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Transforming Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy Through Fluorescent Hydrogels: A Review.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Biomass-derived carbon dots for the initiation of conventional radical and ATRP-based photopolymerization processes.Nature protocols · 2025Review
- Nanotechnology Strategies in Plant Genetic Engineering: Intelligent Delivery and Precision Editing.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Carbon dots as probes in FLIM:a review of applications and advances in cellular imaging.RSC advances · 2025Review
- Bio-inspired ultrasonic microreactor for efficient synthesis of indigo-emitting carbon dots with tunable morphology and enhanced optical properties.Ultrasonics sonochemistry · 2025Article
- Carbon Dots for Nucleic Acid-Based Diagnostics and Therapeutics: Focus on Oxidative DNA Damage.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Carbon Dot Nanoparticles Synthesized from Horticultural Extracts for Postharvest Shelf-Life Extension of Fruits and Vegetables.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Bambara Groundnut Pericarp-Derived Carbon Dots: Reinforcement of Gelatin/PLA Bilayer Films and Their Function as Preservative in Packed Asian Seabass Slices.Journal of food science · 2025Article
- Carbon dots: A promising tool for viral infection treatment.Materials today. Bio · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Carbon dots (CDs) are photoluminescent nanomaterials with wide-ranging applications. Despite their photoactivity, it remains unknown whether CDs degrade under illumination and whether such photodegradation poses any cytotoxic effects. Here, we show laboratory-synthesized CDs irradiated with light degrade into molecules that are toxic to both normal (HEK-293) and cancerous (HeLa and HepG2) human cells. Eight days of irradiation photolyzes 28.6-59.8% of the CDs to <3 kilo Dalton molecules, 1431 of which are detected by high-throughput, non-target high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Molecular network and community analysis further reveal 499 cytotoxicity-related molecules, 212 of which contain polyethylene glycol, glucose, or benzene-related structures. Photo-induced production of hydroxyl and alkyl radicals play important roles in CD degradation as affected by temperature, pH, light intensity and wavelength. Commercial CDs show similar photodegraded products and cytotoxicity profiles, demonstrating that photodegradation-induced cytotoxicity is likely common to CDs regardless of their chemical composition. Our results highlight the importance of light in cytocompatibility studies of CDs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.