title: Enhanced Detection Specificity and Sensitivity of Alzheimer's Disease Using Amyloid-β-Targeted Quantum Dots.
abstract: Diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) commonly employ the use of fluorescent thioflavin derivatives having affinity for the amyloid-β (Aβ) proteins associated with AD progression. However, thioflavin probes have limitations in their diagnostic capabilities arising from a number of undesireable qualities, including poor photostability, weak emission intensity, and high emission overlap with the backgound tissue autofluorescence. To overcome such limitations, we have developed nanoformulated probes consisting of a red-emitting fluorescent quantum dot (QD) core encapsulated in a PEGylated shell with benzotriazole (BTA) targeting molecules on the surface (QD-PEG-BTA). The combination of strong red fluorescence, multivalent binding, and decreased backgound signal and nonspecific binding provided the ability of the QD-PEG-BTA probes to achieve detection sensitivites 4 orders of magnitude greater than those of conventional thioflavin derivatives. This study opens the door for the use of QDs in AD detection applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
authors.forename: Jiangxiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
authors.forename: Lucas A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
authors.forename: Jianquan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States.
authors.forename: Yiqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D045663:Quantum Dots; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides