As an important member of fluorescence nanoparticles, carbon dots (CDs) not only possess exceptional chemical properties, including excellent biocompatibility, low toxicity and chemical inertness, but also exhibit promising optical properties, such as broad excitation spectra, tunable emission spectra and high photostability, thus attracting tremendous attention. Over the past decade, applications of CDs in numerous fields have been intensively investigated, ranging from biomedical analysis to optoelectronics and energy. Among these cutting-edge applications, this review article mainly outlines recent advances in the field of CD-based bioimaging and summarizes achievements in two broad categories: in vitro imaging in terms of the approaches to deliver CD-based probes into different types of cells and vital cell organelles, as well as in vivo applications that focus on distribution and uptake of CDs in mice and zebrafish, imaging-guided drug delivery and tumor therapeutics. Furthermore, the potential superiority, challenges and future directions of CDs for imaging are also presented. The purpose of this review is to highlight the importance of CD-based bioimaging and to boost its development in diverse research fields ranging from materials science to biomedicine.

中文翻译：

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用于生物成像应用的碳点的最新进展

作为荧光纳米粒子的重要成员，碳点（CD）不仅具有出色的化学特性，包括出色的生物相容性，低毒性和化学惰性，而且还展现出令人鼓舞的光学特性，例如宽激发光谱，可调发射光谱和高光稳定性，因此引起了极大的关注。在过去的十年中，对CD在许多领域的应用进行了深入的研究，从生物医学分析到光电子学和能源。在这些最前沿的应用程序中，这篇综述文章主要概述了基于CD的生物成像领域的最新进展，并总结了两大类的成就：体外就将基于CD的探针递送到不同类型的细胞和重要细胞器中的方法进行成像，以及专注于小鼠和斑马鱼中CD的分布和摄取的体内应用，成像引导的药物递送和肿瘤治疗。此外，还介绍了用于成像的CD的潜在优势，挑战和未来方向。这篇综述的目的是强调基于CD的生物成像的重要性，并促进其在从材料科学到生物医学的各种研究领域中的发展。