Study on DNA damage induced by CdSe quantum dots using nucleic acid molecular "light switches" as probe

Jiangong Liang; Zhike He; Shusheng Zhang; Shan Huang; Xinping Ai; Hanxi Yang; Heyou Han

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2006.07.048

Study on DNA damage induced by CdSe quantum dots using nucleic acid molecular "light switches" as probe

Talanta. 2007 Mar 15;71(4):1675-8. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2006.07.048. Epub 2006 Sep 1.

Authors

Jiangong Liang¹, Zhike He, Shusheng Zhang, Shan Huang, Xinping Ai, Hanxi Yang, Heyou Han

Affiliation

¹ College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China; College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China.

PMID: 19071507
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2006.07.048

Abstract

The calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) damage induced by water-soluble CdSe quantum dots (QDs) was investigated using nucleic acid molecular "light switches" as probe. It was found that little ctDNA was damaged by CdSe QDs without UV irradiation. However, under UV irradiation, ctDNA was nicked by CdSe QDs very clearly. The mechanism of ctDNA damage was also discussed. The results strongly suggested that the ctDNA damage caused by CdSe QDs was not due to photo-induced liberation of Cd(2+), but due to the production of free radicals and reactive oxygen species.