Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40333972›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Biomineralization of semiconductor quantum dots using DNA-functionalized protein nanoreactors.

Zhenyu Han, Allen X Guo, Taokun Luo, Tong Cai, Chad A Mirkin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Metal-Phenolic Coatings Enable Universal Design of Spherical Nucleic Acids.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Inverse Design of DNA-Programmable Protein Colloidal Crystals.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. A general genome editing strategy using CRISPR lipid nanoparticle spherical nucleic acids.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Zhenyu HanDepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3798-9345
Allen X GuoInternational Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-9995-4046
Taokun LuoDepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5894-0490
Tong CaiDepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4468-6767
Chad A MirkinDepartment of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6634-7627

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Proteins can template the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of size-confined nanocrystals. However, protein-templated mineralization often leads to particles that exhibit low colloidal stability, poor crystal quality, and/or diminished photoluminescence. Here, we report protein cage-spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) that can be used as nanoreactors for quantum dot (QD) synthesis and subsequent intracellular delivery. The resulting QD-SNA structures are monodisperse, colloidally stable, and photoluminescent in aqueous solution. The nanoreactors were prepared using two different proteins (~10 and 12 nanometers in diameter), and CdS, CdSe, and PbSe nanocrystals were synthesized. Moreover, the extent of surface defects and crystallinity depends on the relative concentrations of ionic precursors, which control the growth rate and the number of ionic vacancies. By optimizing conditions, CdS-SNAs that exhibit near-zero reabsorption loss were synthesized. Last, QD-SNAs exhibit enhanced cellular uptake and minimal cytotoxicity when compared to commercial QD-protein conjugates, making them potentially useful in bioimaging and diagnostic applications.

Indexed as

BiomineralizationDNAProteinsQuantum DotsSemiconductorsCadmium CompoundsHumansNanoparticlesSelenium CompoundsSulfidesCadmium CompoundsDNAProteinsSelenium CompoundsSulfides

Identifiers

PMID40333972
PMCPMC12057681

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.