A reagentless biosensing assembly based on quantum dot-donor Forster resonance energy transfer

On the surface of a quantum dot (QD), maltose-binding protein (MBP, white and yellow in Figure) labeled with a cyanine dye (red) self-assembles, resulting in Forster resonance energy transfer between the acceptor dye and the OD donor. Upon binding maltose, MBP undergoes a conformational change (white reversible arrow yellow), causing concentration-dependent photoluminescence changes.