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Immunofluorescent labeling of cancer marker Her2 and other cellular targets with semiconductor quantum dots

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 41–46 (2003)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 April 2003

Abstract

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are among the most promising emerging fluorescent labels for cellular imaging. However, it is unclear whether QDs, which are nanoparticles rather than small molecules, can specifically and effectively label molecular targets at a subcellular level. Here we have used QDs linked to immunoglobulin G (IgG) and streptavidin to label the breast cancer marker Her2 on the surface of fixed and live cancer cells, to stain actin and microtubule fibers in the cytoplasm, and to detect nuclear antigens inside the nucleus. All labeling signals are specific for the intended targets and are brighter and considerably more photostable than comparable organic dyes. Using QDs with different emission spectra conjugated to IgG and streptavidin, we simultaneously detected two cellular targets with one excitation wavelength. The results indicate that QD-based probes can be very effective in cellular imaging and offer substantial advantages over organic dyes in multiplex target detection.

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Figure 1: Detection of cancer marker Her2 with QD-IgG.
Figure 2: Detection of Her2 with QD-streptavidin.
Figure 3: Staining of cytoskeleton fibers in 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells with QD-streptavidin.
Figure 4: Detection of nuclear antigens and double labeling.
Figure 5: Fluorescence intensity and emission spectra of QD–streptavidin conjugates.
Figure 6: Photostability comparison between QDs and Alexa 488.

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Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation to Walt Mahoney, Ping Wu, and Charles Z. Hotz for supervising the project and for their critical reading of this manuscript. We thank Don Z. Zehnder, Edward Adams, Ted Haxo, Linh H. Nguyen, Christopher H. Ng, and Susan Palmieri for their contribution in generating QD probes and images. We also wish to acknowledge Hugh Daniels for his participation in the early stages of the work. This work was supported in part by grant R44 CA88391-03 from the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Quantum Dot Corporation, 26118 Research Rd., Hayward, 94545, CA

    Xingyong Wu, Hongjian Liu, Jianquan Liu, Kari N. Haley, Joseph A. Treadway, J Peter Larson & Marcel P. Bruchez

  2. Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, 94080, South San Francisco, CA

    Nianfeng Ge & Frank Peale

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  1. Xingyong Wu
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Correspondence to Xingyong Wu.

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Wu, X., Liu, H., Liu, J. et al. Immunofluorescent labeling of cancer marker Her2 and other cellular targets with semiconductor quantum dots. Nat Biotechnol 21, 41–46 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt764

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