APPLICATIONS OF FLUORESCENT SEMICONDUCTOR NANOCRYSTALS IN MICROSCOPY AND CYTOMETRY
I. A. Vorobjev,1, 2 E. P. Rafalovskaya-Orlovskaya,2 A. A. Gladkih,2
D. M. Potashnikova,2 N. S. Barteneva 3, 4
1 A. N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University,
2 Russian Hematology Scientific Center, Moscow,
3 Immune Disease Institute and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Children's Hospital and
4 Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA;
e-mail: ivorobjev@mail.ru
Quantum dots (QD) nanocrystals consisting of CdSe core with ZnS shell are a novel class of fluorophores with tremendous potential in microscopy and cytometry techniques.
The unique optical features of Qdots, namely, high photostability and extinction coefficient, wide absorption and narrow emission spectra, and large Stokes shift make them desirable
fluorescent tags for diverse biomedical applications. Applications of this novel technology in microscopy and cytometry produce reliable multicolor specimens due to increased photostability,
ability for multiplexing and narrow emission spectra of nanocrystals. QD conjugates are available on the market and could be prepared in the laboratory. This paper describes the application
of QD-conjugates for immunophe-notyping and FISH assessment of cells and tissues, and the requirements for microscope and flow cytometer re-engineering for successful use of QD in
multiplex fluorescent format. Despite the considerable progress, important methodological issues still need to be solved in terms of QD nanocrystals' size, heterogeneity, functionalization
and stability of their conjugates. We discuss practical approaches and challenges that need to be addressed to make QD immunostaining a standard method in biology.
Key words: quantum dots, fluorescent nanocrystals, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry
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