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Preparation and Biological Effect of Nucleotide-Capped CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots on Tetrahymena thermophila

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Abstract

In this paper, we described the preparation and characterization of different types of modified CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and explored the biological effects of QDs with different surface modifications on the whole growth of unicellular protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila BF5 using a thermal activity monitor air isothermal microcalorimeter. Our results demonstrated that adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP) showed stronger interaction with QDs than other types of nucleotide. AMP-QDs could stimulate the growth of T. thermophila while mercaptoacetic acid-capped CdSe/ZnS quantum dots inhibited it. In addition, the population density determination and fluorescence imaging of T. thermophila BF5 also confirmed the results obtained from microcalorimetry. It is believed that this approach will provide a more convenient methodology for the kinetics and thermodynamics of microorganism when coexisting with QDs in real time, and all of which are very significant to understanding the effect of QDs to organism.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Chinese 973 Program (2011CB933600), Chinese 863 Program (2007AA06Z407), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (90717111, 20873096, 20921062).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Life Science, Guangxi Teachers Education University, Nanning, 530001, China

    Qi Xiao & Shan Huang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Virology and Key Laboratory of Analytic Chemistry for Biology and Medicine (MOE), College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Yi Liu

  3. Research Center of Analytical Science, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Ting Qiu & Zhike He

Authors
  1. Qi Xiao
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  2. Ting Qiu
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  3. Shan Huang
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  4. Yi Liu
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  5. Zhike He
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yi Liu or Zhike He.

Additional information

Q. Xiao and T. Qiu contributed equally to this work.

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Xiao, Q., Qiu, T., Huang, S. et al. Preparation and Biological Effect of Nucleotide-Capped CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots on Tetrahymena thermophila . Biol Trace Elem Res 147, 346–353 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9286-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9286-4

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