Investigation of red blood cell antigens with highly fluorescent and stable semiconductor quantum dots.
We report a new methodology for red blood cell antigen expression determination by a simple labeling procedure employing luminescent semiconductor quantum dots. Highly luminescent and stable core shell cadmium sulfide/cadmium hydroxide colloidal particles are obtained, with a predominant size of 9 nm. The core-shell quantum dots are functionalized with glutaraldehyde and conjugated to a monoclonal anti-A antibody to target antigen-A in red blood cell membranes. Erythrocyte samples of blood groups A+, A2+, and O+ are used for this purpose. Confocal microscopy images show that after 30 min of conjugation time, type A+ and A2+ erythrocytes present bright emission, whereas the O+ group cells show no emission. Fluorescence intensity maps show different antigen expressions for the distinct erythrocyte types. The results obtained strongly suggest that this simple labeling procedure may be employed as an efficient tool to investigate quantitatively the distribution and expression of antigens in red blood cell membranes.
de Farias
Patrícia Maria Albuquerque
PM
Biofosica e Radiobiologia, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. pmaf@ufpe.br
Santos
Beate Saegesser
BS
de Menezes
Frederico Duarte
FD
de Carvalho Ferreira
Ricardo
R
Barjas-Castro
Maria Lourdes
ML
Castro
Vagner
V
Lima
Paulo Roberto Moura
PR
Fontes
Adriana
A
Cesar
Carlos Lenz
CL
D001789:Blood Group Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015200:Fluoroimmunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012666:Semiconductors
D001789:Blood Group Antigens