Special method to prepare quantum dot probes with reduced cytotoxicity and increased optical property

Quantum dots (QDs) are widely used in the life sciences because of their novel physicochemical properties. However, the cytotoxity of these nonoparticles have attracted great attention recently because this has not been well resolved. Four probes were synthesized by chemical coupling and protein denaturation with CdSe/ZnS, CdTe QDs, and transferrin. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis were used to verify the conjugation of these luminescent probes. The cytotoxicity of these four luminescent probes and the original QDs were evaluated in HeLa cells. The results showed that over 92% of HeLa cells were still alive after being exposed to 3.2-mu M CdSe/ZnS QDs capped with denatured transferrin for 72 h. Furthermore, while the probe preparation was very simple, the photoluminescence quantum yield of this probe was 7% higher than the original CdSe/ZnS QDs. This provides a new way for exploiting QD probes with low cytotoxicity, which will expand applications of nanocomposite assembly in biolabeling and imaging. (C) 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3291999]