Quantum Dot Cellular Uptake and Toxicity in the Developing Brain: Implications for Use as Imaging Probes.

ABSTRACT: Nanometer-sized luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have been utilized as imaging and therapeutic agents in a variety of disease settings, including diseases of the central nervous system. QDs have several advantages over traditional fluorescent probes including their small size (5-10 nm), tunable excitation and emission spectra, tailorable surface functionality, efficient photoluminescence, and robust photostability, which are ideal characteristics for in vivo imaging. Although QDs are promising imaging agents in brain-related applications, no systematic evaluation of QD behavior in brain-relevant conditions has yet been done. Therefore, we sought to investigate QD colloidal stability, cellular uptake, and toxicity in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo in the

SUBMITTER: Zhang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6924642 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature