Evaluation of the Biological Effects of Externally Tunable, Hydrogel Encapsulated Quantum Dot Nanospheres in Escherichia coli

Polymers

Somesree GhoshMitra³  Tong Cai²  David Diercks⁴  Zhibing Hu²  James Roberts²  Jai Dahiya¹  Nathaniel Mills³  DiAnna Hynds³ 

[1] Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Biology, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX 76204, USA; E-Mails:;Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: quantum dots;    cytotoxicity;    hydrogel;    drug delivery;    temperature responsive;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym3031243

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Quantum Dots (QDs) have become an interesting subject of study for labeling and drug delivery in biomedical research due to their unique responses to external stimuli. In this paper, the biological effects of a novel hydrogel based QD nano-structure on E. coli bacteria are presented. The experimental evidence reveals that cadmium telluride (CdTe) QDs that are encapsulated inside biocompatible polymeric shells have reduced or negligible toxicity to this model cell system, even when exposed at higher dosages. Furthermore, a preliminary gene expression study indicates that QD-hydrogel nanospheres do not inhibit the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene expression. As the biocompatible and externally tunable polymer shells possess the capability to control the QD packing density at nanometer scales, the resulting luminescence efficiency of the nanostructures, besides reducing the cytotoxic potential, may be suitable for various biomedical applications.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.