One barrier to apply current tri-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) based quantum dots (QDs) to biomedical imaging is that the TOPO on TOPO-QDs can be replaced by the proteins in living system, which may cause the degradation of QDs and/or deactivation of protein. In order to develop biocompatible optical imaging agents, a novel triblock copolymer, designed as a multidentate ligand, was synthesized to...

BACKGROUND Qingdaisan (Formulated Indigo powder, QDS) are widely used for treatment of aphtha, sore throat and bleeding gums in China. The aim of the study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and dental ulcer therapeutic effects of QDS. METHODS Dimethylbenzene-induced ear edema test and cotton pellet-induced granuloma test were used to evaluate anti-inflammatory activities of ...

Glucose, as the major energy source in cellular metabolism, plays an important role in the natural growth of cells. Herein, a simple, rapid and low-cost method for the glucose determination by utilizing glucose oxidase and CdTe/thioglycolic acid (TGA) quantum dots (QDs) on a thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate has been described. The detection was based on the combination of the glucose enzym...

Quantum dots (QDs) are nanometer-sized semiconductor particles with tunable fluorescent optical property that can be adjusted by their chemical composition, size, or shape. In the past 10 years, they have been demonstrated as a powerful fluorescence tool for biological and biomedical applications, such as diagnostics, biosensing and biolabeling. QDs with high fluorescence quantum yield and opti...

Quantum dots (QDs) have great potential in non-invasive monitoring and imaging of tumor cells in vivo, but it is unknown if QDs affect their tumorigenesis and metastasis. Here, we applied peptide-conjugated near-infrared fluorescent QDs (NIRF-QDs) to label the squamous cell carcinoma cells Tca8113 and U14. We tested the proliferation and apoptotic capacities of both cells, and the capacity of c...

Quantum dots (QDs), as novel bioimaging and drug delivery agents, are generally introduced into vascular system by injection, and thus directly exposed to vascular endothelial cells (ECs). However, the adverse effects of QDs on ECs are poorly understood. In this study, employing human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs), we investigated the potential vascular endothelial toxicity of mercaptosuccinic ac...

The conductive properties of individual self-assembled GeSi quantum dots (QDs) are investigated by conductive atomic force microscopy on single-layer (SL) and bi-layer (BL) GeSi QDs with different dot densities at room temperature. By comparing their average currents, it is found that the BL and high-density QDs are more conductive than the SL and low-density QDs with similar sizes, respectivel...