Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots as ultrasensitive probes for long-term in vivo imaging applications.
A facile synthesis method to produce monodisperse, biocompatible, lysine crosslinked mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) CdSe(0.25)Te(0.75)/CdS near-infrared (NIR) quantum dots and use them as probes to study their long term in vivo distribution, clearance, and toxicity is presented. Large signal enhancements are demonstrated by these quantum dots, which enables their use as efficient and sensitive probes for live-animal imaging. An important finding is that mice intravenously injected with approximately 10.5 mg kg(-1) of NIR QDs survive for more than three months without any apparent adverse effect to their health. Furthermore, it is determined that there is a significant reduction in the number of the QDs in the liver and spleen three months post injection. In addition, histological analysis of heart, kidney, liver, spleen, and lung tissue indicates that there are no acute toxic effects from these lysine cross-linked MUA NIR QDs. This study suggests that these NIR QDs can be potentially used for long-term targeted imaging and therapy studies in vivo.
Yong
Ken-Tye
KT
Institute for Lasers, Photonics, and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo-The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260-4200, USA. kyong2@buffalo.edu
Roy
Indrajit
I
Ding
Hong
H
Bergey
Earl J
EJ
Prasad
Paras N
PN
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013997:Time Factors
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D015335:Molecular Probes