Evaluation of toxicity and antibacterial activity of cadmium telluride quantum dots used in nuclear medicine

A major use of quantum dots (QDs) is their use in the development of biomedical nanosensor applications.Bioimaging, targeted drug delivery, and photodynamic therapy are main aspects of the applications of these materials.Four factors determine that which QDs are suitable for use in nuclear medicine applications as theranostics: (1) the ability to accumulate in tumors, (2) cytotoxicity, (3) ability to bind with radioisotopes and (4) fluorescence behavior. In this study, the bactericide effects of different concentrations of QDs sample (CdTe/CdS, CdTe and CdTe/Gd) were evaluated on pathogenic bacteria (E. coli (PTCC 1330), S. typhi (PTCC 1609) and P. aeruginosa (PTCC 1707)). The results showed that altering core/chell structures of QDs affected the toxicity of them considerably.