Addressing Key Technical Aspects of Quantum Dot Probe Preparation for Bioassays.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles, or quantum dots, have become a promising platform for the engineering of biofunctional probes for a variety of biomedical applications, ranging from multicolor imaging to single-molecule tracking to traceable drug delivery. Advances in organometallic synthesis have enabled preparation of hydrophobic quantum dots with high quantum yields and narrow size distribution, offering bright optical materials with narrow size-tunable emission profiles. At the same time, polymer encapsulation procedures provided a simple and versatile methodology for transferring hydrophobic nanoparticles into physiologically-relevant aqueous buffers. Taken together, hydrophobic nanoparticle platforms and polymer encapsulation should offer great flexibility for implementation

SUBMITTER: Zrazhevskiy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4507434 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature