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short communication | DOI: https://doi.org/10.31579/2642-973X/050
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur (302017), Rajasthan, India.
*Corresponding Author: Md Sadique Hussain, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur (302017), Rajasthan, India.
Citation: Citation: Md Sadique Hussain. (2023), An Overview of Quantum Dots and Their Progress in The Treatment of Parkinson's Disease. J. Brain and Neurological Disorders. 6(2): DOI:10.31579/2642-973X/050
Copyright: © 2023 Md Sadique Hussain, This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of The Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Received: 23 January 2023 | Accepted: 04 February 2023 | Published: 10 February 2023
Keywords: quantum dots; nanomaterials; gsh-cqds; Parkinson's disease
Quantum dots are also known as zero-dimensional Nanomaterials, which have very distinctive Properties Such as Electro chemiluminescent, Fluorescent, and Photoluminescent. Because of their unique properties, quantum dots have a revolutionary role in Biomedical research. Quantum dots Like Zinc oxide quantum dots, Graphene Quantum dots, Glutathione conjugated carbon quantum dots (GSH-CQDs) and L-cysteine capped ZnS:Mn quantum dots have many applications in diagnosis and treatment. They can easily cross the blood-brain barrier hence they be used as drug carriers furthermore because of their capabilities they gather widespread attention in biomedical research.
Nanotechnology is the science and engineering that goes into the design, synthesis, characterization, and use of materials and devices whose smallest functional organization, in at least one dimension, is on the nanoscale scale, or one billionth of a meter [1,2]. Nanotechnology may appear to be a new technology, although its presence has been documented since ancient times. The Lycurgus cup, a piece of Roman glass craftsmanship from the fifth century, is one of the most interesting. Ambrosia drags king Lycurgus into the underworld in this exquisite cup. Stained glass windows from the Middle Ages, which can be seen in many churches today, are constructed of a glass composite containing nano-sized metal particles [3,4].
Nanotechnology's great potential in diagnostics for the identification of biomarkers and infections is another emerging use in medicine. The use of biosensors to detect analytes in solutions and bodily fluids is one of them [5].
Curiosity, wonder, and inventiveness are human attributes that have existed since the dawn of time. People throughout the world have been channelling their interest into scientific inquiry and methods. The field of nanoscience has seen tremendous expansion in the study in recent years [6].
Parkinson’s disease, A chronic disorder of the nervous system, Parkinson's disease (PD) manifests both in the motor and non-motor systems. It is primarily associated with elderly patients, but it can also affect young people. After Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's is the most common Neurodegenerative disease Which is affected by the dopaminergic loss in the substantia nigra Many neurodegenerative Disorders can mimic Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease [7]. James Parkinson was the one who described Parkinson’s disease in 1817 in an essay called “An essay on shaking palsy”. Parkinson’s disease is caused by the progressive and extensive loss of dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway and the loss of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta [8]. Figure 1 illustrates the quantum dots.
Figure: 1. Structure of Quantum dots.
Advancements in nanotechnology play a revolutionary role in the treatment of diseases and disorders, so nanomaterials in the biomedical field are a very important and very focused area of research.
Quantum Dots in Parkinson’s Disease
Quantum dots are semiconducting nanoparticles that have a unique size and shape-dependent optoelectronic characteristics. These unusual features have gotten a lot of interest in the biomedical profession in recent years because they can be used for real-time tissue imaging (bioimaging), diagnosis, single molecule probes, and medication administration, among other things. Quantum dots' optical characteristics may be tweaked by changing their size and composition, and their great brightness, photobleaching resistance, multiplexing capability, and high surface-to-volume ratio make them ideal for intracellular tracking, diagnosis, in vivo imaging, and therapeutic application [9].
a) ZnO quantum dots
Lin D et.al., developed a novel brain-targeted ZnO quantum dots (QDs) nano-platform delivering gene to interfere with SNCA expression for PD treatment. They observed that the ZnO QDs can cross the blood-brain barrier and release the gene in lysosomal escape furthermore they demonstrated that it could provide neuroprotection and also reverse the neurodegenerative process in PD models [10].
b) Graphene quantum dots
Kim D et.al., GQDs permeate the blood-brain barrier and protect against dopamine neuron loss induced by α-syn preformed fibrils and behavioral deficits.
Preparation of GQDs.
Kim D et.al., synthesized Graphene quantum dots by adding 0.9 g of carbon fibers in a mixture of 300ml sulphuric acid and 100ml nitric acid at 80ºC for 24 h and then subjected to acid removal and the solution was vacuum-filtered using a porous inorganic membrane filter with a specification of cat. no. 6809–5002, Whatman-Anodisc 47. The solution was then subjected to rotary evaporation and the powder was obtained as a final product [11].
c) Graphene quantum dots
Ghaeidamini M et.al. demonstrated that the graphene quantum dots inhibit α-syn amyloid formation via differential interactions with monomers and fibrils [12].
d) L-cysteine capped ZnS: Mn quantum dots
Diaz-Diestra D et.al. developed a Dopamine phosphorescence sensor based on L-cysteine capped ZnS: Mn QDs to determine PD and also it can be used for imaging neurodegenerative disorders in the nervous system.
Synthesis of l-cysteine capped ZnS:Mn quantum dots
ZnS: Mn QDs capped with l-cysteine were prepared with some modifications. Briefly, 90 mg of ZnSO4·H2O 3.0 mg of MnCl2, and 121 mg of l-cysteine were dissolved into a 25 mL three-neck round-bottom flask using high-purity deionized water (HPDW). The pH of the solution was made to 11 using 1 M NaOH and subjected to purging with argon, 5 mL of 0.2 M aqueous solution of Na2S was added. The mixture was stirred under controlled reflux for 14 h at 50 °C in the open air. The flocculate was separated from the supernatant by ultracentrifugation, and in more quantity rinsed with HPDW, and then freeze-dried. The final products were re-dispersed in HPDW and produced a deep orange solution in presence of UV light. This orange color is a clear indicator of the compound formation [13].
e) GSH-CQDs
The glutathione-conjugated carbon quantum dots GSH-CQDs are developed for sensitive and selective detection of levodopa.
Park SW et.al., demonstrated that Levodopa can be detected by the quenched fluorescence of GSH-CQDs under alkaline conditions. These quantum dots have high specificity toward Levodopa. The drug shows many side effects so this fluorescence sensor plays an important role in the specific and selective detection of Levodopa [14].
Several types of research have been carried out using quantum dots in the field of nanotechnology. quantum dots have been gaining attraction because of their unique properties. They can be used as a delivery system because of their capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier and Quantum dots can be used as fluorescent sensors in the specific detection of certain drugs. These Nanomaterials have widespread applications which are yet to be identified by the researcher.
Authors' Contributions
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Conflict of Interest
No conflict of interest has been declared.
Funding
None.
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