Article

In Vivo Imaging of Quantum Dots Encapsulated in Phospholipid Micelles

Benoît DubertretCenter for Studies in Physics and Biology,Paris A. SkouridesLaboratory of Molecular Embryology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USADavid J. NorrisDepartment of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAVincent NoireauxCenter for Studies in Physics and Biology,Ali H. BrivanlouLaboratory of Molecular Embryology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USAAlbert LibchaberCenter for Studies in Physics and Biology,

2002en

ABI

Abstract

Fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) have the potential to revolutionize biological imaging, but their use has been limited by difficulties in obtaining nanocrystals that are biocompatible. To address this problem, we encapsulated individual nanocrystals in phospholipid block-copolymer micelles and demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo imaging. When conjugated to DNA, the nanocrystal-micelles acted as in vitro fluorescent probes to hybridize to specific complementary sequences. Moreover, when injected into Xenopus embryos, the nanocrystal-micelles were stable, nontoxic (<5 x 10(9) nanocrystals per cell), cell autonomous, and slow to photobleach. Nanocrystal fluorescence could be followed to the tadpole stage, allowing lineage-tracing experiments in embryogenesis.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1077194

Citations and references

Cited by 20 references

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