However, clinical translation of these prepared nanoprobes is always Elafibranor price confounded by their in vivo biosafety. Development of safe and highly effective nanoprobes for targeted imaging and tracking of in vivo early gastric cancer cells has become our concern. In the recent 10 years, quantum dots have been subjected to intensive investigations because of their unique photoluminescence properties and potential applications. So far, quantum dots have been used successfully in cellular imaging [12, 13], immunoassays [14], DNA hybridization [15, 16], and optical barcoding [17]. Quantum dots also

have been used to study the interaction between protein molecules or to detect the dynamic course of PF-04929113 signal transduction in live cells by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) [18, 19]. These synthesized quantum dots have significant advantages over traditional fluorescent dyes, including better stability, stronger fluorescence intensity, and different colors, which are adjusted by controlling the size of the dots [20]. Therefore, quantum dots provide a new functional platform for bioanalytical selleck sciences and molecular imaging. However, some studies also showed that some kinds of quantum dots exhibited toxic effects such as cytotoxicity, tissue toxicity, and in vivo residues [21, 22]. How to

develop safe quantum dots has become the concern of many scientists. In our previous work, we also synthesized safe quantum dots such as Ag2S and AgSe [23, 24] and used them for in vitro cell labeling and targeted imaging ever of in vivo gastric cancer cells. However,

their fluorescence signals are too weak to be used for long-time imaging and single cell tracking [25]. How to prepare safe quantum dots with strong fluorescence signals has become a great challenge. In this study, as shown in Figure 1, we chose the CdSe/ZnS (core-shell) quantum dots (QDs) as prototypical materials, synthesized one kind of a new type of amphiphilic polymer including dentate-like alkyl chains and multiple carboxyl groups, and then used the prepared amphiphilic polymer to modify QDs. The resultant amphiphilic polymer engineered QDs (PQDs) were conjugated with BRCAA1 monoclonal antibody and Her2 antibody, and prepared BRCAA1 antibody- and Her2 antibody-conjugated QDs were used for in vitro labeling and in vivo targeted imaging of gastric cancer cells. Results showed that the amphiphilic PQDs exhibited good water solubility, strong photoluminescence (PL) intensity, and good biocompatibility. BRCAA1 antibody- and Her2 antibody-conjugated QD nanoprobes can specifically label gastric cancer MGC803 cells and realize targeted imaging of gastric cancer cells in vivo successfully.