Target-specific imaging of transmembrane receptors using quinonyl glycosides functionalized quantum dots

Here, we describe a novel "switch-on" biosensor based on quinonyl glycosides functionalized quantum dots (QDs) for the specific targeting and imaging of transmembrane glycoprotein receptors on the surface of cancer cells. The design of the quinonyl glycosides lies in that the quinone moiety serves as a quencher of QDs and the glycoside moiety as a biospecific ligand for targeting a receptor. We observed that the quenched photoluminescence of the quinone glycosides functionalized QDs could be significantly recovered by a specific lectin that selectively binds to the glycosides clustering the QDs but was not affected by a panel of nonspecific lectins. Moreover, we determined that quinonyl galactoside functionalized QDs could optically image the asialoglycoprotein receptors of a hepatoma cell line in a target-specific manner. This system might provide new insights into the fabrication of photoluminogenic biosensors for the analysis of the universal ligand-receptor recognitions in nature.