Small-Protein-Stabilized Semiconductor Nanoprobe for Targeted Imaging of Cancer Cells

Recently, semiconductor nanoparticles such as quantum dots (QDs) have attracted significant attention for bioimaging. Complex chemical functionalization, surface modification, and bioconjugation chemistry are generally required to tag biomolecules to QDs for imaging of different biomarkers. In this study, we report a simple method for production of QDs stabilized by the small protein, Affibody (AF-QDs) for fluorescent imaging of the human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) in human A549 lung cancer cells. This one-pot synthesis of AF-QDs avoids complex chemical conjugation procedures and demonstrates a promising approach for the preparation of fluorescent nanoprobes for imaging of cancer targets.