Comparative cytotoxicity of quantum dot and gold conjugates

摘要

Nanoparticle toxicity is of interest for the design of anti-bacterial and anti-cancer agents, and also for development of regulations for their safe handling and disposal. However, the same reactivity that makes nanoparticles show unique optical properties also makes them interact with standard cytotoxicity agents, causing false positive and/or false negative results. We discuss which cytotoxicity assays are most likely to work with nanoparticles and which are to be avoided, and present some results on comparative cytotoxicity of different types of conjugates.