The Preparation of Magnetic Silica Nanospheres and Incorporation of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots-DNA Probe.

Silica nanospheres containing magnetic particles were prepared, and CdSe/ZnS QDs functionalized with carboxyl group were incorporated into the silica nanospheres by EDC/NHS coupling reaction. The silica nanospheres were prepared by a co-precipitation of ferrous and ferric solutions followed by the sol-gel reaction of TEOS (tetraethoxysilane) and APTES (3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane) using base catalyst. The size of magnetic silica nanospheres was confirmed by Transmission electron microscope (TEM). Thiol group modified single stranded oligonucleotides were immobilized on the surface of QDs and fluorescence quenching by intercalation dye (TOTO-3) after hybridization with target oligonucleotide was observed. The fluorescence from QDs could be quenched by intercalating dye (TOTO-3) after hybridization of target DNA to probe DNA. This shows that the magnetic silica-QD-DNA probe can be used to detect specific DNA.