Quantum Dots: Tracking the Down‐Regulation of Folate Receptor‐α in Cancer Cells through Target Specific Delivery of Quantum Dots Coupled with Antisense Oligonucleotide and Targeted Peptide (Small 24/2013)

Y.-D. Zhao and co-workers report on page 4183 a new multifunctional quantum dot (QD) probe by coupling anti-hFR-α antisense oligonucleotide (AS-ODN) and targeted peptide p160 with QDs through biotin-streptavidin interaction for realtime tracking of AS-ODN and regulation of hFR-α in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The QD probes enter into the cytoplasm effectively through receptor-mediated endocytosis, and after endosomal release, AS-ODN combines with its target mRNA and blocks hFR-α protein translation. This multifunctional QD probe not only achieves gene silencing in a cell-specific manner but also achieves real-time tracking during AS-ODN intracellular delivery.