Wu Xingyong, Liu Hongjian, Liu Jianquan, Haley Kari N, Treadway Joseph A, Larson J Peter, Ge Nianfeng, Peale Frank, Bruchez Marcel P
Quantum Dot Corporation, 26118 Research Rd., Hayward, CA 94545, USA.
Nat Biotechnol. 2003 Jan;21(1):41-6. doi: 10.1038/nbt764. Epub 2002 Dec 2.
Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are among the most promising emerging fluorescent labels for cellular imaging. However, it is unclear whether QDs, which are nanoparticles rather than small molecules, can specifically and effectively label molecular targets at a subcellular level. Here we have used QDs linked to immunoglobulin G (IgG) and streptavidin to label the breast cancer marker Her2 on the surface of fixed and live cancer cells, to stain actin and microtubule fibers in the cytoplasm, and to detect nuclear antigens inside the nucleus. All labeling signals are specific for the intended targets and are brighter and considerably more photostable than comparable organic dyes. Using QDs with different emission spectra conjugated to IgG and streptavidin, we simultaneously detected two cellular targets with one excitation wavelength. The results indicate that QD-based probes can be very effective in cellular imaging and offer substantial advantages over organic dyes in multiplex target detection.
半导体量子点（QD）是细胞成像中最有前景的新兴荧光标记物之一。然而，尚不清楚作为纳米颗粒而非小分子的量子点是否能够在亚细胞水平特异性且有效地标记分子靶点。在这里，我们使用与免疫球蛋白G（IgG）和链霉亲和素相连的量子点，对固定和活癌细胞表面的乳腺癌标志物Her2进行标记，对细胞质中的肌动蛋白和微管纤维进行染色，并检测细胞核内的核抗原。所有标记信号都对预期靶点具有特异性，并且比同类有机染料更亮、光稳定性也显著更高。通过将具有不同发射光谱的量子点与IgG和链霉亲和素偶联，我们用一个激发波长同时检测了两个细胞靶点。结果表明，基于量子点的探针在细胞成像中非常有效，并且在多重靶点检测方面比有机染料具有显著优势。
