Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) length on the in vivo behavior of coated quantum dots.
The use of nanoparticles, either for the delivery of drugs or for imaging contrast agents, or a combination of both (theranostics), is very appealing in biological and biomedical research. The design of high-quality NIR-emitting quantum dots (QDs), with outstanding optical properties in comparison to that of organic dyes, should lead to novel contrast agents with improved performance for optical and multimodal imaging. Moreover, these nanocrystals could also be used for exploring therapeutic applications, such as drug delivery or phototherapy. In this article, we report the coating of commercial ITK705-amino QDs with methoxy-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of different chain lengths. Homogeneous QD solutions that are stable over extended periods of time were prepared. The impact of the particle coating on their in vivo fate after tail i.v. injection was studied by fluorescence imaging. The speed of the first pass extraction of the coated QDs toward the liver decreased with the PEG length, whereas the hydrodynamic diameter of the particles was increased.
CEA, LETI-MINATEC, Département des microTechnologies pour la Biologie et la Santé, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. jean.daou@uha.fr
T Jean
TJ
Daou
Liang
L
Li
Peter
P
Reiss
Véronique
V
Josserand
Isabelle
I
Texier
D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D003287:Contrast Media; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols