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Quantum Dots in Medical and Biology Science

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 2961

Special Issue Editor

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Interests: nanomaterials; surface chemistry; biomedical nanoparticles; gold nanostructures; quantum dots; nanoparticle–biological interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Quantum dots (QDs) are a group of semiconducting nanocrystals with unique optical and electronic properties. Depending on their sizes, QDs emit different wavelengths of light over a broad range of the spectrum, from visible to infrared. QDs are typically extensively used for optical applications due to their high extinction coefficient and resistance to photobleaching. This Special Issue aims to collect and disseminate some of the most significant and recent contributions in the interdisciplinary area of the application of QDs in medical and biology research, especially in cell targeting, delivery, diagnostics, cancer therapy, and imaging for cancer research.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Kevin Critchley
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • quantum dots
  • biomedical applications
  • in-vivo imaging
  • in-vitro assay
  • targeted drug delivery
  • cell targeting
  • cancer therapy
  • diagnostics

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 2766 KiB  
Article
Quantum Dot Labelling of Tepary Bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) Lectins by Microfluidics
by Ricardo Cervantes-Jiménez, Lino Sánchez-Segura, Laura Elena Estrada-Martínez, Antonio Topete-Camacho, Elizabeth Mendiola-Olaya, Abraham Noé Rosas-Escareño, Carlos Saldaña-Gutiérrez, Mónica Eugenia Figueroa-Cabañas, José Luis Dena-Beltrán, Aarón Kuri-García, Alejandro Blanco-Labra and Teresa García-Gasca
Molecules 2020, 25(5), 1041; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25051041 - 26 Feb 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2677
Abstract
Lectins are bioactive proteins with the ability to recognize cell membrane carbohydrates in a specific way. Diverse plant lectins have shown diagnostic and therapeutic potential against cancer, and their cytotoxicity against transformed cells is mediated through the induction of apoptosis. Previous works have [...] Read more.
Lectins are bioactive proteins with the ability to recognize cell membrane carbohydrates in a specific way. Diverse plant lectins have shown diagnostic and therapeutic potential against cancer, and their cytotoxicity against transformed cells is mediated through the induction of apoptosis. Previous works have determined the cytotoxic activity of a Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) lectin fraction (TBLF) and its anti-tumorigenic effect on colon cancer. In this work, lectins from the TBLF were additionally purified by ionic-exchange chromatography. Two peaks with agglutination activity were obtained: one of them was named TBL-IE2 and showed a single protein band in two-dimensional electrophoresis; this one was thus selected for coupling to quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles by microfluidics (TBL-IE2-QD). The microfluidic method led to low sample usage, and resulted in homogeneous complexes, whose visualization was achieved using multiphoton and transmission electron microscopy. The average particle size (380 nm) and the average zeta potential (−18.51 mV) were determined. The cytotoxicity of the TBL-IE2 and TBL-IE2-QD was assayed on HT-29 colon cancer cells, showing no differences between them (p ≤ 0.05), where the LC50 values were 1.0 × 10−3 and 1.7 × 10−3 mg/mL, respectively. The microfluidic technique allowed control of the coupling between the QD and the protein, substantially improving the labelling process, providing a rapid and efficient method that enabled the traceability of lectins. Future studies will focus on the potential use of the QD-labelled lectin to recognize tumor tissues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantum Dots in Medical and Biology Science)
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