Dysfunction of various organelles provokes multiple cell death after quantum dot exposure

Abstract

Quantum dots (QDs) are different from the materials with the micrometer scale. Owing to the superiority in fluorescence and optical stability, QDs act as possible diagnostic and therapeutic tools for application in biomedical field. However, potential threats of QDs to human health hamper their wide utilization in life sciences. It has been reported that oxidative stress and inflammation are involved in toxicity caused by QDs. Recently, accumulating research unveiled that disturbance of subcellular structures plays a magnificent role in cytotoxicity of QDs. Diverse organelles would collapse during QD treatment, including DNA damage, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and lysosomal rupture. Different forms of cellular end points on the basis of recent research have been concluded. Apart from apoptosis and autophagy, a new form of cell death termed pyroptosis, which is finely orchestrated by inflammasome complex and gasdermin family with secretion of interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-18, was also summarized. Finally, several potential cellular signaling pathways were also listed. Activation of Toll-like receptor-4/myeloid differentiation primary response 88, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells and NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 inflammasome pathways by QD exposure is associated with regulation of cellular processes. With the development of QDs, toxicity evaluation is far behind its development, where specific mechanisms of toxic effects are not clearly defined. Further studies concerned with this promising area are urgently required.

Research advance on cell imaging and cytotoxicity of different types of quantum Dots

“…Autophagy can be divided into microautophagy, chaperone‐mediated autophagy (CMA) and macroautophagy (Mao, Tsai, Chen, Yan, & Wang, 2016). Autophagy flux can describe the whole dynamic process of macroautophagy, which contains three steps: formation of autophagosome, then the fusion of lysosome and autophagosome to form autolysosome, and the end of digestion of the cellular components to release recycled macromolecules into the cytoplasm (Wang & Tang, 2018a). Selective autophagy means the autophagy of specific organelles, molecules or pathogens, such as mitochondria (mitophagy), aggregated proteins (aggrephagy), lipid droplets (lipophagy) and pathogens (xenophagy) (Mao et al, 2016).…”

Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer as a Method to Study Protein-Protein Interactions: Application to G Protein Coupled Receptor Biology

“…Different strategies including streptavidin QD targeting a biotinylated antibody, cross-linking of primary or secondary antibodies, receptor ligands or recognition peptides to QDots have been explored to detect the proteins of interest [51]. However, the cumulative volume of antibodies and QDots as well as other factors such as the processing parameters or cellular toxicity of QD [52] may hinder their usefulness in studying PPIs. Considering the possibility of multiplexed sensing using QDs with different wavelengths of emission, it is conceivable they could be useful in the development of assays for simultaneous detection of multiple protein-protein interactions in living cells.…”

Recent Advances in the Therapeutic and Diagnostic Use of Liposomes and Carbon Nanomaterials in Ischemic Stroke

“…Hence, contrast agents associated to liposomes should be carefully chosen, or eventually optimized, so as to avoid adverse effects. For instance, a recent work emphasized the potential toxicities of QDs due to their specific metallic composition, the risk of release of toxic metal ions after prolonged exposure of biological systems and several undefined factors of nanoparticles themselves ( Wang and Tang, 2018 ). Thus, much effort is still needed regarding the achievement of biocompatible QDs through surface modification and the understanding of their mechanisms of toxicity, before they can be considered for use in humans.…”