1.D.169. The Ion Transporting Carbon Nanodot (C-ND) Family
Carbon nanodots synthesized from beta-alanine (Ala-CDs) and detonation nanodiamonds (NDs) were examined (Shatursky et al. 2022). Ala-CDs and NDs increased the extracellular concentrations of neurotransmitters and decreased acidification of synaptic vesicles but did not change the lipid order of the membrane. Both nanoparticles, Ala-CDs and NDs, were capable of increasing the conductance of a black lipid membrane (BLM) by inducing stable potential-dependent cation-selective pores. Introduction of a divalent cation, Zn2+ or Cd2+ on the particles` application side (cis-side) increased the rate of Ala-CDs pore-formation in the BLM. The application of positive potential (+100 mV) to the cis-chamber with Ala-CDs or NDs also activated insertion as compared with a negative potential (-100 mV). The Ala-CD pores exhibited a wide-range distribution of conductances between 10 and 60 pS and a consecutive increase in conductance of each major peak by ~10pS, which suggested the clustering of the same basic ion-conductive structure. NDs also formed ion-conductive pores ranging from 6 pS to 60 pS with the major peak of conductance at ~12 pS in cholesterol-containing membranes. Observed Ala-CDs and NDs-induced increases in transmembrane current that coincided with the disturbance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter transport in nerve terminals (Shatursky et al. 2022).