Biomedical Engineering Reference
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Fig. 3 QDs ( red ) used to
label Glycine receptors on
cultured spinal cord neurons
( arrows ). The somatodendritic
compartment is identifi ed by
microtubule associated
protein-2 ( green ). Source :
Dahan et al. ( 2003 )
tracking of glycine receptors using confocal fl uorescence imaging, then used silver
intensifi ed QDs examined with EM to confi rm the location of the antibody-QD
tagged glycine receptors in the synaptic cleft (Dahan et al. 2003 ) ( Fig. 3 ). Thus the
same QDs probes that were used to track these receptors in the neuronal membrane
using fl uorescence were also imaged with electron microscopy, providing high reso-
lution information. In a careful study using correlated light microscope and electron
microscope labeling, Giepmans et al. report successful labeling of three proteins at
both the light and EM level within the same tissue sample (Giepmans et al. 2005 ) .
Although postfi xation of the sample with glutaraldehyde and osmium was elimi-
nated in order to prevent loss in fl uorescence, the ultrastructure of the cells was
suffi ciently intact for identifying detail.
9
Future Application of Quantum Dots to Neuroscience
9.1
Quantum Dots Imaging for Tracing Single
Neurons and Subcellular Organelles
While immunolabeling of neuronal structures has been immensely useful in eluci-
dating neural function, antibody assays do not allow for distinction of individual
neuronal structures such as axons and dendrites from that of neighboring cells in
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