title: Folic acid-CdTe quantum dot conjugates and their applications for cancer cell targeting.
abstract: In this study, we report the preparation, luminescence, and targeting properties of folic acid-CdTe quantum dot conjugates. Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots were synthesized and conjugated with folic acid using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide-N-hydroxysuccinimide chemistry. The influence of folic acid on the luminescence properties of CdTe quantum dots was investigated, and no energy transfer between them was observed. To investigate the efficiency of folic acid-CdTe nanoconjugates for tumor targeting, pure CdTe quantum dots and folic acid-coated CdTe quantum dots were incubated with human nasopharyngeal epidermal carcinoma cell line with positive expressing folic acid receptors (KB cells) and lung cancer cells without expression of folic acid receptors (A549 cells). For the cancer cells with positive folate receptors (KB cells), the uptake for CdTe quantum dots is very low, but for folic acid-CdTe nanoconjugates, the uptake is very high. For the lung cancer cells without folate receptors (A549 cells), the uptake for folic acid-CdTe nanoconjugates is also very low. The results indicate that folic acid is an effective targeting molecule for tumor cells with overexpressed folate receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Preethi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suriamoorthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX USA.
authors.forename: Guiyang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352 USA.
authors.forename: Alan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
authors.forename: Surya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hossu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX USA ; Advanced Imaging Research Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX USA.
authors.forename: Xiankai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Bioconjugation; Cancer; Folic acid receptors; Imaging; Labeling; Luminescence; Quantum dots; Targeting