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Description:
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Recent progress in the field of semiconductor nanocrystals or Quantum Dots (QDs )
has seen them find wider acceptance as a tool in biomedical research labs . As produced ,
high quality QDs synthesized by high temperature organometallic synthesis , are coated
with a hydrophobic ligand . Therefore , they must be further processed to be soluble in
water and made biocompatible .
A process to coat the QDs with silk fibroin , a fibrous protein derived from the
Bombyx mori silk worm , is described . Following the coating process , the characterization
of size , optical properties and biocompatibility profile of these particle systems is
described . In addition , conjugation of the silk fibroin coated QDs to different labeling
proteins such as phalloidin and streptavidin is described .
Proteins on the surface of ovarian cancer cells (HeyA8 ) and of cytoskeletal
components participating in the formation of focal adhesion complex (FAC ) , such as F -actin
in endothelial cells (HUVECS ) were labeled using the bio -conjugated QDs . Various imaging techniques such as epi -fluorescence , TIRF and AFM were used to
study the QD labeled cells . Overall the project has produced luminescent nanoprobes that
enable the study of FAC formation dynamics and potentially a better in vivo fluorescent
marker tool . |