Stable water-soluble complexes of Cd-free ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and chlorin e6 complexes have been prepared. These complexes have shown approximately 50% intracomplex fluorescence resonance energy transfer from QDs to chlorin e6. The photodynamic therapy (PDT) test of the complexes against the Erlich acsite carcinoma cell culture demonstrated a two-fold enhancement of the cancer cell photodynamic destruction as compared to that of free chlorin e6 molecules. It was shown that the PDT effect was significantly increased due to two factors: the efficient QD-chlorin e6 photoexcitation energy transfer and the improvement of cellular uptake of the photosensitizer in the presence of ZnSe/ZnS QDs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.