镉系量子点的生物毒性及相应机制

Biotoxicity of Cadmium-Based Quantum Dots and the Mechanisms

量子点(quantum dots,QDs)由于其优异的荧光特性在生物学和生物医学领域具有广泛的应用,并且在肿瘤的诊断和治疗方面也表现出巨大的潜力,但是随之而来的生物毒性问题近几年备受研究者们的高度关注。本文选取研究最多的Cd系量子点为代表,总结了量子点体外体内生物毒性的一般规律和特点,重点从量子点进入体内途径、内吞进入细胞方式和细胞内发挥功能等方面探讨了其毒性效应的机制。希望以此为发展安全低毒量子点提供指导和建议,促进量子点的临床应用。

Due to their extremely favourable optical properties, quantum dots（QDs） were widely used in areas of biology and biomedicine, including the great potential in the diagnosis and therapeutics of several kinds of tumors. However, the intrinsic toxicity of QDs has drawn considerable attentions of more and more researchers in recent years. In this review, we select the cadmium-based QDs as representative example to summarize the general principles of biotoxicity for QDs in vitro and in vivo, and focus on the mechanisms of their biotoxicity by discussing the QD＇ s pathways to entry the bodies, internalization of QDs into cells and intracellular functions. By this way, some directions and suggestions are given for the development of safe or low-toxicity QDs, which will promote the clinical use of QDs.