Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026
Production and Targeting of Monovalent Quantum Dots
Published on: October 23, 2014
Formation of targeted monovalent quantum dots by steric exclusion
Justin Farlow1, Daeha Seo, Kyle E Broaders
11] Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA. [2] Tetrad Graduate Program, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA. [3] Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Abstract:
Precise control over interfacial chemistry between nanoparticles and other materials remains a major challenge that limits broad application of nanotechnology in biology. To address this challenge, we used 'steric exclusion' to completely convert commercial quantum dots (QDs) into monovalent imaging probes by wrapping each QD with a functionalized oligonucleotide. We demonstrated the utility of these QDs as modular and nonperturbing imaging probes by tracking individual Notch receptors on live cells.
