Handbook of Biomedical Optics

678 Handbook of Biomedical Optics

quantum dots (Qdots) with a few copies of small biological car-

riers such as peptides could alter access of the targeting moiety

to the molecular target and skew the biodistribution to that of

the unlabeled nanoparticles. Large-sized reporter can be a hin-

drance when the target is intracellular. erefore, it is imperative

that the choice of targeting moiety and optical reporter be cho-

sen with careful consideration of target location and biological

properties.

Conversely, when large biomolecules such as antibodies are

used, the size of the uorescent dyes becomes insignicant,

unless multiple copies of the ...