Department of Marine Science, University of Southern Mississippi, 1020 Balch Blvd., Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA; E-Mails:
Sensors (Basel). 2009;9(9):7540-9. doi: 10.3390/s90907540. Epub 2009 Sep 23.
We have applied quantum dot (Qdot) antibody conjugates as a biomolecular probe for cellular proteins important in biogeochemical cycling in the sea. Conventional immunological methods have been hampered by the strong autofluorescence found in cyanobacteria cells. Qdot conjugates provide an ideal alternative for studies that require long-term imaging of cells such as detection of low abundance cellular antigens by fluorescence microscopy. The advantage of Qdot labeled probes over conventional immunological methods is the photostability of the probe. Phycoerythrin bleaches in cyanobacterial cells under prolonged UV or blue light excitation, which means that the semiconducting nanocrystal probe, the Qdot, can yield a strong fluorescent signal without interference from cellular pigments.
我们将量子点（Qdot）抗体缀合物用作海洋生物地球化学循环中重要的细胞蛋白的生物分子探针。传统的免疫学方法受到蓝藻细胞中强自发荧光的阻碍。Qdot 缀合物为需要对细胞进行长期成像的研究提供了理想的选择，例如通过荧光显微镜检测低丰度细胞抗原。与传统免疫学方法相比，Qdot 标记探针的优势在于探针的光稳定性。藻红蛋白在蓝藻细胞中经长时间的紫外或蓝光激发后会褪色，这意味着半导体纳米晶体探针 Qdot 可以产生强荧光信号，而不会受到细胞色素的干扰。
