title: Synthesis of NAC capped near infrared-emitting CdTeS alloyed quantum dots and application for in vivo early tumor imaging.
abstract: The synthesis of water-soluble near-infrared (NIR)-emitting quantum dots (QDs) has recently received extensive attention for non-invasive detection of biological information in living subjects. Highly fluorescent CdTeS alloyed QDs for biological application are introduced in this paper. QDs were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and coated with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) as both bioactive ligand and sulfur source for biocompatibility and biological stability. The optical properties, morphology and structure of CdTeS alloyed QDs were characterized. The in vitro and in vivo toxicity was intensively investigated. Furthermore, the dynamics and bio-distribution of CdTeS alloyed QDs on living mice were studied. To explore biomedical application, folate-polyethylene glycol (FA-PEG) was used to decorate the CdTeS alloyed QDs (FP-CdTeS QDs) for targeted imaging of tumors over-expressing the folate receptor (FR). The tumor targeting capability of FP-CdTeS QDs on tumor bearing nude mice was demonstrated. The results showed that the prepared CdTeS QDs have excellent optical properties and low toxicity, which makes them an ideal inorganic material for biomedical imaging. In addition, the folate-PEG conjugated NIR-QDs displayed good biocompatibility as well as excellent sensitivity and specificity for optical imaging of tumors which can extend the application of CdTeS QDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Da-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Akers
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Achilefu
authors.forename: Yue-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; D013691:Tellurium; D000111:Acetylcysteine