Attempts to reproduce results from a carbon-dot-based fluorescent sensor for copper imaging failed, highlighting potential inconsistencies in the original findings.
This study presents the results of a replication effort aimed at reproducing key findings fromthe 2012 article "Carbon-Dot-Based Dual-Emission Nanohybrid Produces a Ratiometric Flu-orescent Sensor for In Vivo Imaging of Cellular Copper Ions" by Zhu et al. The original studyclaimed that CQDs functionalized with AE-TPEA (CQDs-TPEA) and their hybrid withCdSe/ZnS quantum dots (CdSe@C-TPEA) exhibited ratiometric fluorescence quenching uponexposure to Cu2+ ions, enabling their application as a dual-emission sensor for intracellular Cu2+imaging. Despite closely following the described synthesis and characterization protocols, wewere unable to reproduce the Cu2+-induced fluorescence quenching, undermining the primaryclaim of the original study and making it impossible to pursue the investigation in live cells.Furthermore, upon close examination of the original data, concerns regarding spectral anoma-lies and potential inconsistencies were raised, prompting us to abort the replication study.
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Gharib et al. (2025) studied this question.
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