Pharmaceutical potential of quantum dots

Figures & data

Table

Description of the nanoparticle
System	Quantum dots
Size	1–10 nm
Type	Semiconductor fluorescent material
Functionalization	Amination, amidation, PEGylation, etc.
Application	Diagnosis, drug delivery system, bimodal molecular imaging, In vivo imaging, etc.

Figure 1. Structure of quantum dot with bioactive agents.

Table

Physical method	Chemical method
Arc discharge [18]	Electrochemical synthesis [19]
Laser ablation/passivation [20]	Combustion and acidic oxidation [21]
Plasma treatment	Hydrothermal and pyrolysis routes [22]
	Microwave/ultrasonic synthesis [23]

Table

Top-down approach (larger carbon structures are broken off to smaller C-dots)	Bottom-up approach (C-dots are formed from molecular precursors)
Arc discharge [18]	Combustion/thermal/hydrothermal [22]
Electrochemical oxidation [19]	Supported synthesis
Laser ablation technique [24]	Microwave/ultrasonic [23]

Figure 2. Schematic representation of drug bearing ligand conjugated QDs for drug delivery efficiently.

Figure 3. Live cell imaging Alivisatos et al. [48].

Table 1. Summary of optical properties of different nanosystems in diagnostics [5].

S. no.	Nanoparticles	Optical properties
1	Gold nanorods	Electrophoretic irradiation of cells causing cancer cell damage
2	Silver nanoparticles	Absorb and scatter light with extraordinary efficiency due to the conduction electrons on the metal surface that undergoes a collective oscillation when they are emitted by light at specific wavelength
3	Nanosphere	100% absorbed light is converted to heat that causes cellular damage via thermal effect such as coagulation, evaporation, etc. via the non-radiative property. Thus due to its biocompatible and photostable nature it is being used in photothermal therapy
4	Gold nanoshell	These are NIR active NPs helpful in the in vivo therapy of tumours under skin and deeply seated within tissue because of its deep penetration due to minimal absorption of Hb and water molecules in tissues in this spectral region
5	Quantum dots	Quantum dots can be tracked very precisely when molecules are ‘bar coded’ by their unique light spectrum

Zhang Z, Hao J, Zhang J, et al. Protein as the source for synthesizing fluorescent carbon dots by a one-pot hydrothermal route. RSC Adv. 2012;2:8599–8601.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Chen G, Wu S, Hui L, et al. Assembling carbon quantum dots to a layered carbon for high-density supercapacitor electrodes. Scientific Rep. 2016;6:19028.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Sun YP, Wang X, Lu F, et al. Doped carbon nanoparticles as a new platform for highly photoluminescent dots. J Phys Chem C. 2008;112:18295–18298.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Yang ST, Wang X, Wang H, et al. Carbon dots as nontoxic and high-performance fluorescence imaging agents. J Phys Chem C. 2009;113:18110–18114.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Wang X, Qu K, Xu B, et al. Microwave assisted one-step green synthesis of cell-permeable multicolor photoluminescent carbon dots without surface passivation reagents. J Mater Chem. 2011; 21:2445–2450.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Sun Y-P, Wang X, Lu F, et al. Doped carbon nanoparticles as a new platform for highly photoluminescent dots. J Phys Chem C, Nanomater Interfaces. 2008;112:18295–18298.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Ray SC, Saha A, Jana NR, et al. Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and bioimaging application. J Phys Chem C. 2009;113:18546–18551.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Parak WJ, Boudreau R, Le Gros M, et al. Cell motility and metastatic potential studies based on quantum dot imaging of phagokinetic tracks. Adv Mater. 2002;14:882–885.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Michalet X, Pinaud FF, Bentolila LA, et al. Quantum dots for live cells, in vivo imaging, and diagnostics. Science. 2005;307:538

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar