Selective labeling of the endoplasmic reticulum in live cells with silicon quantum dots
Peng Shen1, Seiichi Ohta, Susumu Inasawa
1Department of Chemical System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. shenpeng@chemsys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England)
|June 24, 2011
Abstract:
A simple and novel approach was developed to obtain water-dispersible silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) of low toxicity that were able to selectively label the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in live cells. A block copolymer (Pluronic F127) was used to coat the surface of Si-QDs. Si-QDs form aggregates with diameters of 20-40 nm and show an outstanding optical stability upon UV irradiation. Our F127-treated Si-QDs would be a powerful tool for long-term real-time observation of the ER in live cells.
