Surface engineering and characterization of quantum dots and its application in living cell imaging
10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2016.05.04
- Author:
Han QIU
1
Author Information
1. Department of Breast Surgery, Jingzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Breast neoplasms;
Fluorescent antibody technique;
Quantum dots;
Ultrasonic emulsification
- From:
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army
2016;41(5):368-372
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective Surface modification of hydrophobic nanoparticles is a key process for their application in the biological medicine fields. The aim of present study is to prepare the immunofluorescent probes by conjugation of hydrophilic surface-engineered quantum dots (QDs) and monoclonal antibody for use of fluorescence labeled cells tracing. Methods The bovine serum albumin (BSA) with excellent water-solubility and biocompatibility was employed as the emulsifying agent, and used for surface modification of hydrophobic QDs under ultrasonication. The diameter, fluorescence spectrum and cytotoxicity of BSAcoated QDs (BSA-triP.QDs) were analyzed. Then the BSA-coated QDs were conjugated with trastuzumab, which can be recognized and bound specifically to HER2. SKBR-3 breast cancer cells, with over-expression of HER-2, were labeled with hydrophilic QDstrastuzumab and imaged on a fluorescence planar imaging system. Results The experimental results revealed that BSA as the emulsifying agent, combined with other polymers, can effectively phase transfer hydrophobic QDs. The BSA functionalized QDs exhibited excellent colloidal stability with fine hydrodynamic size distribution (about 70nm) in a wide range of pH and ionic strengths values. Moreover, no significant cytotoxic effect was observed in SKBR-3 cells treated with BSA-coated QDs. After being coupled with trastuzumab, the hydrophilic QDs can be used as an immunofluorescence probe for HER2-positive breast cancer cell imaging. Conclusions The advantages of BSA-coated QDs include straight forward synthesis, high colloidal stability, and promising immunofluorescence characteristic when coupled with specific antibody. These are therefore proved to be ideal nano systems for biomedical labeling, targeting, and imaging.
