Abstract:
Tremendous research efforts have been devoted to nanoparticles for applications in optoelectronics and biomedicine. Over the past decade, quantum dots (QDs) have become one of the fastest growing areas of research in nanotechnology because of outstanding photophysical properties, including narrow and symmetrical emission spectrum, broad fluorescence excitation spectrum, the tenability of the emission wavelength with the particle size and composition, anti-photobleaching ability and stable fluorescence. These characteristics are suitable for optical imaging, drug delivery and other biomedical applications. Research on QDs toxicology has demonstrated QDs affect or damage the biological system to some extent, and this situation is generally caused by the metal ions and some special properties in QDs, which hinders the further application of QDs in the biomedical field. The toxicological mechanism mainly stems from the release of heavy metal ions and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). At the same time, the contact reaction with QDs also cause disorders in organelles and changes in gene expression profiles. In this review, we try to present an overview of the toxicity and related toxicity mechanisms of QDs in different target organs. It is believed that the evaluation of toxicity and the synthesis of environmentally friendly QDs are the primary issues to be addressed for future widespread applications. However, considering the many different types and potential modifications, this review on the potential toxicity of QDs is still not clearly elucidated, and further research is needed on this meaningful topic.
摘要:
巨大的研究工作已经致力于纳米粒子在光电子和生物医学中的应用。在过去的十年里,量子点(QDs)由于其优异的光物理性质,已经成为纳米技术中发展最快的研究领域之一,包括窄和对称的发射光谱,宽荧光激发光谱,发射波长随颗粒尺寸和组成的可保持性,抗光漂白能力和稳定的荧光。这些特性适用于光学成像,药物输送和其他生物医学应用。QDs毒理学研究表明,QDs在一定程度上影响或破坏生物系统,这种情况一般是由量子点的金属离子和一些特殊性质引起的,这阻碍了量子点在生物医学领域的进一步应用。其毒理机制主要源于重金属离子的释放和活性氧(ROS)的产生。同时,与量子点的接触反应也会导致细胞器紊乱和基因表达谱的变化。在这次审查中,我们试图对量子点在不同靶器官的毒性和相关毒性机制进行概述。认为毒性评价和环境友好型量子点的合成是未来广泛应用需要解决的首要问题。然而,考虑到许多不同的类型和潜在的修改,关于量子点潜在毒性的综述仍未明确阐明,这个有意义的课题还需要进一步的研究。