Therapeutic effect of quantum dots for cancer treatment

Semiconductor quantum dots (Qdots) are well established as a unique category of fluorescent imaging probes due to their superior optical properties over conventional small-molecule dyes. At the same time, there have been major concerns regarding their potential nano-toxicity because high-quality Qdo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:RSC advances 2016, Vol.6 (114), p.113791-113795
Main Authors: Zhao, Mei-Xia, Zhu, Bing-Jie, Yao, Wen-Jing, Chen, Di-Feng
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Semiconductor quantum dots (Qdots) are well established as a unique category of fluorescent imaging probes due to their superior optical properties over conventional small-molecule dyes. At the same time, there have been major concerns regarding their potential nano-toxicity because high-quality Qdots often contain heavy metal elements. Here, we explore the possibility of converting this drawback for therapeutic applications. Using a human liver hepatocellular carcinoma model, human hepatocyte line model, and the Henrietta Lacks strain of cancer cells, we show that tumour cell growth is inhibited with an IC 50 value in the μM range under in vitro conditions. Furthermore, under in vivo conditions, the mean survival time of tumour-bearing mice can be extended by 2.5 times when treated with Qdots. These results demonstrate the possibility of converting nano-toxicity to antitumour activity.
ISSN:2046-2069
2046-2069
DOI:10.1039/C6RA24063A