Labeling primary nerve stem cells with quantum dots.

The primary nerve stem cells (NSCs) were labeled with the carboxyl QDs by passive loading. The studies on QDs' effect on the NSCs showed that with a proper concentration, QDs have little effect on NSCs growth and proliferation within a week, and the QDs did not affect either differentiation potential of NSCs or the protein expression of neuron and astrocyte derived from NSCs. The results suggested that this labeling method is appropriate for labeling studies in vitro. Combined with the unique optical properties of QDs, it is possibly to fulfill NSCs fate-tracking in vivo.