title: Rapid determination of the toxicity of quantum dots with luminous bacteria.
abstract: In this paper, a novel method so-called bioluminescence inhibition assay with luminous bacteria (Photobacterium phosphoreum) was introduced to evaluate the toxicity of quantum dots. The bioassay was based on measuring the decrease of the light emitted by luminous bacteria. With obvious advantages of simplicity, rapidity and sensitivity, it can dramatically improve the efficiency of probing the toxicity of QDs. Based on this method, we systemically explored the effect of the composition and surface modification on QDs' toxicity. The experiment of composition effect was performed using three kinds of QDs, namely CdSe, CdTe and ZnS-AgInS(2) QDs with the same stabilizer - dihydrolipoic acid. As for the effect of different stabilizers, mercaptoacetic acid, l-cysteine and dihydrolipoic acid stabilized CdSe were researched, respectively. Our results demonstrated that both the composition and surface modification were the important factors affecting the toxicity of QDs. In addition, a concentration dependence of toxicity was also found.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory on Luminescence and Real-Time Analysis, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, No 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing 400715, PR China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Huzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Yijuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jianyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Xiaojiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Dongbo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity; D005079:Excipients / Q000592:standards; D049449:Luminescence; D010776:Photobacterium / Q000187:drug effects*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000633:toxicity; D013440:Sulfides; D013691:Tellurium / Q000633:toxicity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D017967:Zinc Compounds
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D005079:Excipients; D018036:Selenium Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; D017967:Zinc Compounds; C058667:cadmium selenide; C031238:zinc sulfide; D013691:Tellurium; C028337:cadmium telluride