Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 29, Issue 18, Pages 2776-2782Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2008.03.007
Keywords
QDs; glutathione; plasmid DNA; controlled release
Ask authors/readers for more resources
DNA was efficiently bound to water-soluble positively charged CdTe quantum dots (QDs) through complementary electrostatic interaction. These QDs-DNA complexes were disrupted and DNA was released by glutathione (GSH) at intracellular concentrations. Interestingly, there was almost no detectable DNA released by extracellular concentration of GSH. The formation of QDs-DNA complexes and GSH-mediated DNA release from the complexes were confirmed by dye displacement assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments. The released DNA retained transcriptional activity and expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) after being transfected into HEK 293 cells. The transfection efficiency measured by flow cytometry (FCM) was comparable with the positive control. The obvious difference of GSH concentration in nature between the intra- and extracellular environments as well as the GSH concentration-dependent triggered release suggests potential applications of these positively QDs in selective unpacking of payload in living cells in a visible manner. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available