{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,27]],"date-time":"2026-03-27T07:07:01Z","timestamp":1774595221575,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774396800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement program","award":["5R25GM061151-20"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["5R25GM061151-20"]}]},{"name":"NASA PR Space Grant","award":["80NSSC20M0052"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["80NSSC20M0052"]}]},{"name":"NIH\u2014NIGMS","award":["#P20GM103642"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#P20GM103642"]}]},{"name":"BioXFEL","award":["1231306"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1231306"]}]},{"name":"UPR\/MDACC Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research","award":["U54 CA096297"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U54 CA096297"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006231","name":"Brookhaven National Laboratory","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["307656"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["307656"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006231","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006231","name":"Brookhaven National Laboratory","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["308523"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["308523"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006231","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nanomaterials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hydrophobicity has limited the efficiency of many drugs. To improve this, gold\u2013silver alloy nanocomposites covered with carbon-based quantum dots were synthesized as a platform to reduce the drugs\u2019 hydrophobicity. Using the hydrophobic drug Andrographolide as a model, it was demonstrated that these nanocomposites can decrease Andrographolide\u2019s hydrophobicity (Log P from 2.632 to 0.56) without encapsulating the drug. Entry within prostate cancer (PC-3) cells and in vitro localization of the nanocomposites and Andrographolide was observed qualitatively via confocal microscopy and their identity confirmed by SERS inside the PC-3 cells. MTS assays demonstrated the carbon-based quantum dot layer covering the metal core of the nanocomposites stabilizes the oxidation rate of the nanocomposite\u2019s core metals. This was observed by a decrease in cytotoxicity in PC-3 cells when compared to other gold or silver nanosystems for similar timeframes published in the literature.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nano16070396","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T15:05:33Z","timestamp":1774451133000},"page":"396","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["AuAg\u2013Carbon-Based Quantum Dot Nanocomposites to Reduce Andrographolide\u2019s Hydrophobicity and Drug Internalization Tracking in PC-3 Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4507-2687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nataniel","family":"Medina-Berr\u00edos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"},{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alondra","family":"Veloz-Bonilla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"},{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sebasti\u00e1n C. D\u00edaz","family":"D\u00edaz-V\u00e9lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"},{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mariana T. Torres","family":"Torres-Mulero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"},{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kim","family":"Kisslinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Brookhaven National Lab, Upton, NY 11973, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alejandro O.","family":"Rivera-Torres","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"},{"name":"Division of Cancer Biology, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, PR 00927, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4787-2239","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gerardo","family":"Morell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"},{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Magaly","family":"Mart\u00ednez-Ferrer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Cancer Biology, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, PR 00927, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00936, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5255-1918","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Brad R.","family":"Weiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925, USA"},{"name":"Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.2147\/IJN.S95440","article-title":"Improving Cytotoxicity against Cancer Cells by Chemo-Photodynamic Combined Modalities Using Silver-Graphene Quantum Dots Nanocomposites","volume":"11","author":"Habiba","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. 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