{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T12:58:03Z","timestamp":1791896283827,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,25]],"date-time":"2024-01-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1706140800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceuticals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Fluorescent graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) doped with various heteroatoms, such as B, P, and S, named Bg-C3N4, Pg-C3N4, and Sg-C3N4, were synthesized with variable band-gap values as diagnostic materials. Furthermore, they were embedded within hyaluronic acid (HA) microgels as g-C3N4@HA microgel composites. The g-C3N4@HA microgels had a 0.5\u201320 \u03bcm size range that is suitable for intravenous administration. Bare g-C3N4 showed excellent fluorescence ability with 360 nm excitation wavelength and 410\u2013460 emission wavelengths for possible cell imaging application of g-C3N4@HA microgel composites as diagnostic agents. The g-C3N4@HA-based microgels were non-hemolytic, and no clotting effects on blood cells or cell toxicity on fibroblasts were observed at 1000 \u03bcg\/mL concentration. In addition, approximately 70% cell viability for SKMEL-30 melanoma cells was seen with Sg-C3N4 and its HA microgel composites. The prepared g-C3N4@HA and Sg-C3N4@HA microgels were used in cell imaging because of their excellent penetration capability for healthy fibroblasts. Furthermore, g-C3N4-based materials did not interact with malignant cells, but their HA microgel composites had significant penetration capability linked to the binding function of HA with the cancerous cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that g-C3N4 and g-C3N4@HA microgel composites did not interfere with the viability of healthy fibroblast cells and provided fluorescence imaging without any staining while significantly decreasing the viability of cancerous cells. Overall, heteroatom-doped g-C3N4@HA microgel composites, especially Sg-C3N4@HA microgels, can be safely used as multifunctional theragnostic agents for both diagnostic as well as target and treatment purposes in cancer therapy because of their fluorescent nature.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ph17020160","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,26]],"date-time":"2024-01-26T04:05:46Z","timestamp":1706241946000},"page":"160","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Fluorescent Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4)-Embedded Hyaluronic Acid Microgel Composites for Bioimaging and Cancer-Cell Targetability as Viable Theragnostic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3524-0675","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Selin S.","family":"Suner","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Faulty of Science, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mehtap","family":"Sahiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Terzioglu Campus, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sahin","family":"Demirci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Faulty of Science, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0344-1365","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evrim","family":"Umut","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Imaging Techniques, School of Healthcare, Dokuz Eylul University, 35330 Izmir, Turkey"},{"name":"BioIzmir-Izmir Health Technologies Development and Accelerator Research and Application Center, Dokuz Eylul University, 35330 Izmir, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0120-530X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nurettin","family":"Sahiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Faulty of Science, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey"},{"name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jallcom.2019.06.185","article-title":"Recent advances in 3D g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts for photocatalytic water splitting, degradation of pollutants and CO2 reduction","volume":"802","author":"Li","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. 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