CdTe Quantum Dots and Their Bioconjugate with Human Serum Albumin for Fluorescence Imaging

Abstract

The interaction between CdTe quantum dots (QDs) with human serum albumin (HSA) and human cell culture was studied by optical spectroscopy technique. Performed research explored the interaction between the CdTe QDs and HSA, and fluorescence imaging efficiency of the QD-HSA bioconjugates in comparison with colloidal QDs. The secondary structure of the HSA is similar to the native form, which suggests a biocompatibility of prepared bionanocomplex. The CdTe QD-HSA bionanoconjugate shows chemical stability in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) under ambient conditions, furthermore, it is stable in the cytoplasm and suitable for cell labeling, tracking, and other bioimaging applications. The CdTe QDs located in an osteosarcoma cancer cells show a high luminescence intensity. The light emission of the CdTe QDs connected with albumin is less than the pure QDs, but it is still satisfactory, and additionally it is stable and has long photoluminescence lifetime. It suggests, that the CdTe NC-HSA bionanocomplex can be used as a fluorescent probe for cell labeling, tracking, and other bioimaging applications.