Adaption of Au Nanoparticles and CdTe Quantum Dots in DNA Detection*

A DNA fluorescence probe system based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from CdTe quantum dot (QD) donors to Au nanoparticle (AuNP) acceptors is presented. CdTe QDs, 2.5nm in diameter, as energy donors, were prepared in water. Au nanoparticles, 16nm in diameter, as energy acceptors, were prepared from gold chloride by reduction. CdTe QDs were linked to 5'-NH2-DNA through 1-ethyl-3-(dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) as a linker, and the 3'-SH-DNA was self-assembled onto the surface of AuNPs. The hybridization of complementary double stranded DNA (dsDNA) bound to the QDs and AuNPs (CdTe-dsDNA-Au) determined the FRET distance of CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles. Compared to the fluorescence of CdTe-DNA, the fluorescence of CdTe-DNA-Au conjugates decreased extremely, which indicated that the FRET occurred between CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles. The fluorescence change of this conjugate depended on the ratio of Au-DNA to CdTe-DNA. When the AuNPs-DNA to QD-DNA ratio was 10:1, the FRET efficiency reached a maximum. The probe system would have a certain degree of fluorescence recovery when a complementary single stranded DNA was introduced into this system, which showed that the distance between CdTe QDs and Au nanoparticles was increased.