TY - JOUR
T1 - High-quality CuInS 2/ZnS quantum dots for in vitro and in vivo bioimaging
AU - Deng, Dawei
AU - Chen, Yuqi
AU - Cao, Jie
AU - Tian, Junmei
AU - Qian, Zhiyu
AU - Achilefu, Samuel
AU - Gu, Yueqing
PY - 2012/8/14
Y1 - 2012/8/14
N2 - The exploration of biocompatible quantum dots (QDs) for biomedical imaging is currently one of the fastest growing fields of nanotechnology. This strategy overcomes the intrinsic toxicity of well-developed II-VI and other semiconductor QDs (Cd, Hg, Pb, Se, Te, As, etc.) that remains a major obstacle to their clinical use. In this report, we synthesized high-quality CuInS 2/ZnS (CIS/ZnS) QDs without using conventional toxic heavy metals. These QDs exhibited improved photoluminescence (PL) properties, with tunable emission peaks ranging from 550 to 800 nm and a maximum PL quantum yield (QY) up to 80%. Next, we explored the effective loading of the prepared oil-soluble CIS/ZnS QDs using biodegradable folate-modified N-succinyl-N′-octyl chitosan (FA-SOC) micelles. Targeting efficacy of the resulting QDs-loaded micelles to tumors using in vitro and in vivo optical imaging techniques was also investigated. The results show that the micelle platform allowed successful formulation of these oil-soluble QDs in water, while retaining the morphology, crystal structure, and PL of the initial CIS/ZnS QDs. This study demonstrates the versatility of using the biocompatible CIS/ZnS QDs across different spatial scales (in vitro cell imaging and in vivo small animal imaging) for multicolor biological imaging applications.
AB - The exploration of biocompatible quantum dots (QDs) for biomedical imaging is currently one of the fastest growing fields of nanotechnology. This strategy overcomes the intrinsic toxicity of well-developed II-VI and other semiconductor QDs (Cd, Hg, Pb, Se, Te, As, etc.) that remains a major obstacle to their clinical use. In this report, we synthesized high-quality CuInS 2/ZnS (CIS/ZnS) QDs without using conventional toxic heavy metals. These QDs exhibited improved photoluminescence (PL) properties, with tunable emission peaks ranging from 550 to 800 nm and a maximum PL quantum yield (QY) up to 80%. Next, we explored the effective loading of the prepared oil-soluble CIS/ZnS QDs using biodegradable folate-modified N-succinyl-N′-octyl chitosan (FA-SOC) micelles. Targeting efficacy of the resulting QDs-loaded micelles to tumors using in vitro and in vivo optical imaging techniques was also investigated. The results show that the micelle platform allowed successful formulation of these oil-soluble QDs in water, while retaining the morphology, crystal structure, and PL of the initial CIS/ZnS QDs. This study demonstrates the versatility of using the biocompatible CIS/ZnS QDs across different spatial scales (in vitro cell imaging and in vivo small animal imaging) for multicolor biological imaging applications.
KW - CuInS /ZnS
KW - in vitro imaging
KW - in vivo imaging
KW - micelles
KW - quantum dots
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865129277&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/cm3015594
DO - 10.1021/cm3015594
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865129277
SN - 0897-4756
VL - 24
SP - 3029
EP - 3037
JO - Chemistry of Materials
JF - Chemistry of Materials
IS - 15
ER -