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Published on: February 28, 2025
The interactions of glutathione-capped CdTe quantum dots with trypsin
Bingjun Yang1, Rutao Liu, Xiaopeng Hao
1Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, China-America CRC for Environment & Health, Shandong Province, 27# Shanda South Road, Jinan 250100, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Due to their unique fluorescent properties, quantum dots present a great potential for biolabelling applications; however, the toxic interactions of quantum dots with biopolymers are little known. The toxic interactions of glutathione-capped CdTe quantum dots with trypsin were studied in this paper using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescence emission spectra, and UV-vis absorption spectra. The interaction between CdTe quantum dots and trypsin resulted in structure changes of trypsin and inhibited trypsin's activity. Fluorescence emission spectra revealed that the quenching mechanism of trypsin by CdTe quantum dots was a static quenching process. The binding constant and the number of binding sites at 288 and 298 K were calculated to be 1.98 × 10(6) L mol(-1) and 1.37, and 6.43 × 10(4) L mol(-1) and 1.09, respectively. Hydrogen bonds and van der Waals' forces played major roles in this process.

