Immunofluorescence detection with quantum dot bioconjugates for hepatoma in vivo

J Biomed Opt. 2007 Jan-Feb;12(1):014008. doi: 10.1117/1.2437744.

Abstract

The use of highly specific and highly sensitive immunofluorescent probes is a promising approach for biomedical imaging in living tissue. We focus on immunofluorescence with quantum dot bioconjugates for hepatoma detection in vivo. We synthesized specific immunofluorescent probes by linking quantum dots to AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) antibody for specific binding AFP-an important marker for hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. In in vivo studies, the characteristic quantum dot (QD) fluorescent property is exhibited by the QDs-Anti-AFP probes in tumor and they demonstrate active tumor targeting and spectroscopic hepatoma imaging with an integrated fluorescence imaging system. We investigate the inhomogeneous distribution of the QDs-Anti-AFP probes in tumor by using a site-by-site measurement method to test their ability for distribution studies of cancer cells. These results demonstrate the practicality of QD bioconjugates as attractive fluorescent probes for biomedical detection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Fluorescent Dyes / pharmacokinetics*
  • Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / immunology
  • Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / pathology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods*
  • Molecular Probe Techniques*
  • Quantum Dots*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tissue Distribution
  • alpha-Fetoproteins / immunology

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • alpha-Fetoproteins