Pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of quantum dots

Figures & data

Figure 1. The structure of QDs.

Figure 2. A reduction in size leads to an increase in the band gap.

Figure 3. The physicochemical properties of QDs.

Figure 4. The hierarchical moments in the history of QDs.

Table I. Methods for characterization of quantum dots.

S. No	Techniques	Examples
1	Spectroscopy techniques	Nuclear magnetic resonance Infra-red and Raman spectroscopy Ultra-violet-visible X-ray diffraction Mass spectrometry
2	Scattering techniques	Small angle neutron scattering Laser light scattering
3	Electrical techniques	Electrochemistry Electrophoresis
4	Microscopy	Transmission electron microscopy Scanning electron microscopy Atomic force microscopy
5	Rheology, physical properties	Differential scanning calorimetry Dielectric spectroscopy

Figure 5. The properties of QDs.

Figure 6. The pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of QDs.

Figure 7. The uses of QDs in cell imaging.

Figure 8. QDs as drug delivery systems.

Table II. Quantum dots delivery systems.

QDs mediated delivery system	Application	References
MWCNT delivery system	MWCNTs contains oligonucleotides	Jia et al. (2010)
Tat peptide mediated delivery system	QDs conjugated to cell penetrating peptide delivery from human immunodeficiency virus-1 transactivator protein	Matan and Haya (2009), Chen et al. (2008)
Peptide delivery system	Arginine peptide is used to enhance delivery of sterptavidin –conjugated QDs into mammalian cells	Ballou et al. (2004)
Nanoscale mechanochemical method	Using membrane penetrating nanoneedle	Yum et al. (2009)
Chitosan tumor targeted drug delivery	QDs encapsulated with chitosan	Yuan et al. (2010)
Viral vector	QDs encapsulated in viral capsule	Dixit et al. (2006)
Polymeric delivery system	QDs were encapsulated by PEI-g –PEG	Duan and Nie (2007)

QDs: Quantum dots; MWCNT: Multiwalled carbon nanotube.

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Yum K, Na S, Xiang Y, Wang N, Yu M. 2009. Mechanochemical delivery and dynamic tracking of fluorescent QDs in cytoplasm and nucleus of living cells. Nano Lett. 9:2193–2198.

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Yuan Q, Hein S, Misra RDK. 2010. New generation of chitosan encapsulated ZnO quantum dots loaded with drug colon synthesis characterization and in vitro drug delivery response. Acta Biomaterialia. 6:2732–2739.

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Dixit SK, Goicochea NL, Daniel MC, Murali A, Bronstein IL, De M, et al. 2006. Quantum dots encapsulation in viral capsids. Nano Lett. 6:1993–1999.

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