Chang Shuquan, Chen Da, Kang Bin, Dai Yaodong
College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2013 Feb;13(2):751-4. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2013.6085.
The cytotoxicity of quantum dots (QDs) under normal conditions has received more and more attention, but their cytotoxicity under light illumination has not been fully investigated. In this study, different sized CdTe QDs coated with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) were employed to investigate the influences of size distribution and surface modification on their UV-enhanced cytotoxicity and mechanism. The results indicated that different sized MPA-CdTe QDs exhibited distinct cytotoxicity under UV illumination and the smaller-sized QDs presented more obviously damages to cells than the larger-sized QDs. Comparing with MPA-CdTe QDs, NAC-CdTe QDs had better cellular metabolizability and lower cytotoxicity. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also investigated. The results revealed that ROS in cells containing MPA-CdTe QD538 were about 1.7 times of NAC-CdTe QD538 under UV illumination. ROS might play an important role in the UV-enhanced cytotoxicity of QDs. By selecting appropriate surface modifications and particle sizes, the cytotoxicity of QDs under UV illumination could be controlled.
量子点（QDs）在正常条件下的细胞毒性已受到越来越多的关注，但其在光照下的细胞毒性尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，使用涂有巯基丙酸（MPA）和N-乙酰半胱氨酸（NAC）的不同尺寸的碲化镉量子点来研究尺寸分布和表面修饰对其紫外线增强的细胞毒性及机制的影响。结果表明，不同尺寸的MPA-CdTe量子点在紫外线照射下表现出不同的细胞毒性，较小尺寸的量子点对细胞的损伤比较大尺寸的量子点更明显。与MPA-CdTe量子点相比，NAC-CdTe量子点具有更好的细胞代谢能力和更低的细胞毒性。还研究了活性氧（ROS）的产生。结果显示，在紫外线照射下，含有MPA-CdTe QD538的细胞中的ROS约为NAC-CdTe QD538的1.7倍。ROS可能在量子点紫外线增强的细胞毒性中起重要作用。通过选择合适的表面修饰和粒径，可以控制量子点在紫外线照射下的细胞毒性。
