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Quantum dots as contrast agents for in vivo tumor imaging: progress and issues

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Abstract

Quantum dots (QDs) have shown promise as imaging agents in cancer, heart disease, and gene therapy research. This review focuses on the design of QDs, and modification using peptides and proteins for mediated targeting of tissues for fluorescence imaging of tumors in vivo. Recent examples from the literature are used to illustrate the potential of QDs as effective imaging agents. The distribution and ultimate fate of QDs in vivo is considered, and considerations of designs that minimize potential toxicity are presented.

Angiogenic blood vessel

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge financial support of our research program by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). WRA is also grateful to the University of Toronto and the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training for provision of a graduate fellowship (OGSST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Sensors Group Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

    Anthony J. Tavares, Lori Chong, Eleonora Petryayeva, W. Russ Algar & Ulrich J. Krull

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  1. Anthony J. Tavares
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  2. Lori Chong
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  3. Eleonora Petryayeva
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Correspondence to Ulrich J. Krull.

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Published in the special issue Analytical Challenges in Nanomedicine with Guest Editors Boris Mizaikoff, Douglas C. Eaton and Christine Kranz.

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Tavares, A.J., Chong, L., Petryayeva, E. et al. Quantum dots as contrast agents for in vivo tumor imaging: progress and issues. Anal Bioanal Chem 399, 2331–2342 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4010-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-010-4010-3

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