title: Highly luminescent water-soluble quaternary Zn-Ag-In-S quantum dots for tumor cell-targeted imaging.
abstract: Exploring the synthesis and biomedical applications of biocompatible quantum dots (QDs) is currently one of the fastest growing fields of nanotechnology. Hence, in this work, we present a facile approach to produce water-soluble (cadmium-free) quaternary Zn-Ag-In-S (ZAIS) QDs. Their efficient photoluminescence (PL) emissions can be tuned widely in the range of 525-625 nm by controlling the size and composition of the QDs with the PL quantum yields (QYs) of 15-30%. These highly luminescent ZAIS QDs are less toxic due to the absence of highly toxic cadmium, and can be versatilely modified by a DHLA-PEG-based ligand. Importantly, after being modified by tumor cell-specific targeting ligands (e.g., folate and RGD peptide), the PEGylated quaternary QDs show potential applications in tumor cell imaging as a promising alternative for Cd-based QDs.
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China. dengdawei@cpu.edu.cn
authors: Dawei
authors: D
authors: Deng
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Cao
authors: Lingzhi
authors: L
authors: Qu
authors: Samuel
authors: S
authors: Achilefu
authors: Yueqing
authors: Y
authors: Gu
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007204:Indium / Q000737:chemistry*; D049449:Luminescence; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D007204:Indium; D014867:Water; D012834:Silver; D013455:Sulfur; D015032:Zinc