Hi all,
Most simply put, quantum dots are inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals. They
can be made from a variety of doped semiconductor materials but I believe
the most common for biological applications are cadmium and selenium. The
semiconductor formed, is a crystal of only a few thousand atoms that have
electron holes that give quantum dots their unique optical properties. When
the dot is excited with a beam of light, they emit light that is directly
proportional to their size. As the nanocrystals become smaller they emit
light of high energy (shorter wavelength) and vice versa. Even more
importantly,  they emit in a very narrow band, allowing them to be used in a
variety of ways and in combination.  The problem has always been that they
are extremely insoluble because the quantum dot core is kept inside a
protective inorganic shell of zinc or other hydrophobic material. In the
early 90's many researchers started playing with ways to increase the
solubility.  I believe the current method uses a mixture of hydrophobic and
hydrophilic polymer (along the lines of micelle) forming compounds.  The
result is stable enough to allow attachment of quantum dots to proteins and
other molecules of biological interest.
I hope this helps......
Luis





-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu]On Behalf Of Patsy
Ruegg
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 6:14 PM
To: 'Anna Elisse Beaudin'; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: RE: [Histonet] IHC withquantum dots


What are "quantum dots"?

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Anna
Elisse Beaudin
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 7:55 AM
To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] IHC withquantum dots


Hello,

  Has anyone ever done immunohistochemistry on tissue sections using
primary (or secondary) antibodies conjugated to quantum dots?  if so, do
you think it would be possible to do multiple labeling using different
colored quantum dots?  thanks in advance for your help!

Anna Beaudin
Division of Nutritional Sciences
Cornell University


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