Abstract

Fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) have the potential to revolutionize biological imaging, but their use has been limited by difficulties in obtaining nanocrystals that are biocompatible. To address this problem, we encapsulated individual nanocrystals in phospholipid block–copolymer micelles and demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo imaging. When conjugated to DNA, the nanocrystal-micelles acted as in vitro fluorescent probes to hybridize to specific complementary sequences. Moreover, when injected into Xenopus embryos, the nanocrystal-micelles were stable, nontoxic (<5 × 10 9 nanocrystals per cell), cell autonomous, and slow to photobleach. Nanocrystal fluorescence could be followed to the tadpole stage, allowing lineage-tracing experiments in embryogenesis.

Keywords

MicelleNanocrystalQuantum dotIn vivoXenopusNanotechnologyBiophysicsFluorescenceMaterials scienceChemistryBiologyBiochemistryOrganic chemistry

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Publication Info

Year
2002
Type
article
Volume
298
Issue
5599
Pages
1759-1762
Citations
2981
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Benoît Dubertret, Paris A. Skourides, David J. Norris et al. (2002). In Vivo Imaging of Quantum Dots Encapsulated in Phospholipid Micelles. Science , 298 (5599) , 1759-1762. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1077194

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DOI
10.1126/science.1077194