title: In vivo behavior of near infrared-emitting quantum dots.
abstract: Near-infrared (NIR, 700-900 nm) fluorescent nanomaterials-based probes have shown major impacts on high-resolution and high-sensitivity bioimaging applications. Typically, NIR-emitting quantum dots (QDs) are highly promising as NIR bioprobes due to their unique optical properties. However, NIR-emitting QDs-related in vivo behavior remains unknown at present, severely limiting their wide-ranging bioapplications. Herein, we investigate short- and long-term in vivo biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity of the NIR-emitting QDs. Particularly, we reveal that the NIR-emitting QDs are initially accumulated in liver, spleen, and lung for short-time (0.5-4 h) post-injection, and then increasingly absorbed by kidney during long-time (4-94 days) blood circulation. Obviously time-dependent biodistribution is observed: with time continues, most of NIR-emitting QDs are finally accumulated in liver and kidney; comparatively, less NIR-emitting QDs are observed in spleen, lung, and bone marrow. Furthermore, histological and biochemical analyses, and body weight measurements demonstrate that there is no overt toxicity of NIR-emitting QDs in mice even at long-time (94 days) exposure time. Our studies provide invaluable information for the design and development of NIR-emitting QDs-based nanoprobes for biological and biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yimei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Yiling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D007259:Infrared Rays; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009928:Organ Specificity; D045663:Quantum Dots; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D014018:Tissue Distribution