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Photoligation Combined with Zwitterion-Modified Lipoic Acid Ligands Provides Compact and Biocompatible Quantum Dots

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Quantum Dots: Applications in Biology

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1199))

Abstract

We describe the design and synthesis of a series of compact ligands made of lipoic acid (LA)-based coordinating anchors and hydrophilic zwitterion groups. This ligand design is combined with a novel photoligation strategy to promote the transfer of QDs to polar and buffer media. This approach has provided hydrophilic QDs that exhibit great colloidal stability over a broad range of pHs and in the presence of cell culture media. Our photoligation strategy drastically improves previous phase transfer methods by eliminating the need for chemical reduction of the dithiolane ring using NaBH4 prior to the cap exchange, and it is adapted to several LA-based ligands. We also found that QDs stabilized with these compact zwitterionic ligands are fully compatible with metal-histidine-driven self-assembly where the protein activity is maintained after forming conjugation with the QDs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank FSU and the National Science Foundation (NSF‐CHE, # 1058957) for financial support. We also thank Tommaso Avellini, Anshika Kapur, Wentao Wang, Xin Ji, Fadi Aldeek, and Malak Safi for the helpful discussions and assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, 95 Chieftan Way, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Naiqian Zhan, Goutam Palui & Hedi Mattoussi

  2. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Stadium Drive, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Henry Grise

Authors
  1. Naiqian Zhan
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  2. Goutam Palui
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  3. Henry Grise
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  4. Hedi Mattoussi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hedi Mattoussi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group on Biomedical Nanotechnology Biophysics and Radiobiology Department, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Adriana Fontes

  2. Research Group on Biomedical Nanotechnology Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Beate Saegesser Santos

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Zhan, N., Palui, G., Grise, H., Mattoussi, H. (2014). Photoligation Combined with Zwitterion-Modified Lipoic Acid Ligands Provides Compact and Biocompatible Quantum Dots. In: Fontes, A., Santos, B. (eds) Quantum Dots: Applications in Biology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1199. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1280-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1280-3_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1279-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1280-3

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