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Labeling tumor cells with fluorescent nanocrystal–aptamer bioconjugates

2006; Elsevier BV; Volume: 21; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.bios.2005.12.015

1873-4235

Ted C. Chu, Felice Shieh, Laura A. Lavery, Matthew Levy, Rebecca Richards–Kortum, Brian A. Korgel, Andrew D. Ellington,

Biosensors and Analytical Detection

Aptamers that bind to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) were conjugated to luminescent CdSe and CdTe nanocrystals for cell-labeling studies. The aptamer-nanocrystal conjugates showed specific targeting of both fixed and live cells that overexpressed PSMA. More importantly, aptamers were able to label cells dispersed in a collagen gel matrix simulating tissue. The specific binding abilities and synthetic accessibility of aptamers combined with the photostability and small size of semiconductor nanocrystals offers a powerful and general tool for cellular imaging.