Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Harvesting Solar Energy by Means of Charge-Separating Nanocrystals and Their Solids
Published on: August 23, 2012
Enantioselective cellular uptake of chiral semiconductor nanocrystals
I V Martynenko1, V A Kuznetsova, I K Litvinov
1ITMO University, 49 Kronverksky pr., St. Petersburg, 197101, Russia.
Abstract:
The influence of the chirality of semiconductor nanocrystals, CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) capped with L- and D-cysteine, on the efficiency of their uptake by living Ehrlich Ascite carcinoma cells is studied by spectral- and time-resolved fluorescence microspectroscopy. We report an evident enantioselective process where cellular uptake of the L-Cys QDs is almost twice as effective as that of the D-Cys QDs. This finding paves the way for the creation of novel approaches to control the biological properties and behavior of nanomaterials in living cells.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Prochirality

