Natural Carbon Quantum Dots Derived from Medicinal Fruit Wastes for Early Fluorescence-Guided Detection and Suppression of Pancreatic Fibrosis: A Mechanistic Review and Research Roadmap

Abstract

Fibrosis of the pancreas resulting from the activation of PSCs to acquire a myofibroblast-like state characterized by secretion of collagen contributes both to chronic pancreatitis and the development of desmoplastic stroma associated with pancreatic cancer; however, this is hard to diagnose due to inaccessibility of the pancreas for biopsy procedures and inadequacy of currently available imaging methods that are unable to detect early stages of fibrotic lesions preceding symptoms. Fruit and medicinal plant wastes like citrus peel, grape pomace, mulberry, mango leaf, and others serve as a raw material to produce carbon quantum dots (CQDs), which have been independently found to exhibit tunable fluorescence and photostability required for bioimaging applications as well as antioxidant properties and ability to scavenge ROS due to their surface hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. The following two direct precedents set the context for this review: fruit waste-derived CQDs coupled with antibodies against a pancreatic cancer biomarker CA 19-9 have already been employed for fluorescent immunoassay detection purposes, while in a completely different study carbon dots derived from mulberry were proven to inhibit kidney fibrosis in vivo by blocking PI3K pathway. As far as it can ascertain, no previous research has attempted to integrate these two lines of evidence in a single CQD-based approach. Specifically, no work has been done that would combine these two approaches into one carbon quantum dot-based technology, or would test the efficacy of such a technology in the treatment of the pancreatic tissue. The current review integrates the biological aspects of the process of pancreatic stellate cells activation, green chemistry of carbon quantum dots based on fruit waste, and the recent evidence of their potential in the anti-fibrotic activity in organs, suggesting an explicit, yet untested hypothesis that natural CQDs could be used to detect and prevent early stages of pancreatic fibrosis. A three-stage in vitro, animal and translational roadmap concludes this manuscript.