Table 2.

Comparison of the results of the present study with earlier literature.

References		Carbon source		Synthesis method		Particle size		Application		Cytotoxicity
Li et. al.111		Ginger juice		Hydrothermal		8.2 ± 0.6 nm		Treatment of liver cancer		Cell Type: HepG2, human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line; MCF-10A, normal mammary epithelial cell line; FL83B, normal liver cell line; A549, human lung cancer cell line; MDA-MB-231, human breast cancer cell line Dose-dependent cytotoxicity, higher selectivity inhibition towards HepG2 cells Effective on HepG2 cell cycle (increase in SubG1 phase), did not cause significant differences in cell cycles for the other four non-cancerous cell lines
Kyung Yung et. al.47		Citric Acid and β-alanine		Microwave pyrolysis		2–3 nm		Cell nucleus Targeting		Cell Type: HeLa Cells No significant cytotoxicity, nuclear localization, Nucleus targeting, and imaging ability shown in vivo No genotoxicity evaluation
Havrdova et al.49		Candle soot		Oxidative acid treatment		4–7 nm		Cell nucleus Targeting and labeling		Cell Type: NIH/3T3, Standard mouse fibroblasts CD-Pri: low cytotoxicity, stimulated proliferation, evoked oxidative stress and induced abnormalities in the cell cycle (G2/M arrest), no entrance to the nucleus CD-PEG: low cytotoxicity, did not disrupt cellular morphology, toxic dose occurred at very high IC50 value and oxidative stress increased similarly like in the control. Did not cause any significant changes in the proportion of the cell cycle phases CD-PEI: cytotoxic, entering into the cell nucleus and inducing the largest changes in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and also induced G2/M arrest
Periasamy et. al.108		Commercial CDs		-		< 50 nm		Cell cytotoxicity		Cell Type: hMSCs, human mesenchymal stem cells CNPs moderately reduce cell viability and cause chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation, disrupt the expression of cell death genes Cell cycle progression of hMSCs was arrested slightly, the number of cells in G0/G1 increased at low concentrations of CNP exposure, cell cycle was arrested in the sub-G0/G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner
Kumawat et al.50		Grape seed extract		Microwave		50–60 nm		Nucleus Imaging, and Photoluminescent Sensing		Cell Type: L929, HT-1080, MIA PaCa-2, HeLa, and MG-63 cells The tendency to self-localize themselves into cell nucleus regardless of cell-type. No cytotoxicity and act as an enhancer in cell proliferation in L929 confirmed by in vitro wound scratch assay and cell cycle analysis. Enhanced the number of L929 cells in S-phase
Kalytchuk et. al.110		Citric acid and L-cysteine		Hydrothermal		3–6.5 nm		In vitro and in vivo luminescence lifetime thermometry		Cell Type: NIH/3T3, Standard mouse, fibroblasts; HeLa, human cervical cancer cells Low cytotoxicity, No significant effect on the cell cycle of HeLa cells, Dose-dependent G0/G1 arrest slightly on NIH/3T3 cells
Liu et al.92		Young Bearly Leaves		Hydrothermal		1.9 and 2.7 nm (in EtoH)		Cell nucleus Targeting and antiviral activity		Cell Type: PK-15 and HeLa cells No significant cytotoxicity,  the neutral charged CDs (b-CDs) were localized in the cytoplasm and showed anti-viral activity, while the negatively charged ones (c-CDs) distributed through the whole cell and nuclear localization was also observed. Nucleus targeting and imaging ability of CDs have been shown in vitro No genotoxicity evaluation
Hill et al.100		Glucosamine-HCl and m-phenylenediamine		Microwave		2.42 ± 0.55 nm		LED-activated nucleus targeting and photothermal therapy		Cell Type: HDF and HeLa cells Less cytotoxicity on HDF than HeLa cells, nuclear localization in HeLa cell line, Nucleus targeting and imaging ability have been shown in vitro. CDs-based or LED induced cell death of cancer cells were not found to be associated with ROS production No genotoxicity evaluation
Zhang et al.112		Citric acid (CA), and propylene diamine (PDA)		Hydrothermal		5 nm		Cell nucleus labeling, cell-cycle imaging		Cell Type: HeLa-229 and HCerEPic No significant cytotoxicity on both cell lines. Permeability of cancer cells to CDs is higher than that of normal cells. N-CQDs were located in the nucleus with no fluorescence on the cytoplasm The majority of labeled HeLa cells were observed in interphase
Present study		Nerium oleander		Thermal		2.05 ± 0.22 nm		Anti-cancer therapy		Cell Type: MCF-7, human breast cancer cells, HDFa, human primer dermal fibroblast cells Dose-dependent cytotoxicity on MCF-7 cells, no cytotoxic effects on HDFa cells Genotoxicity, Clastogenicity and G0/G1 arrest on MCF-7 cells