Quantum dot-fluorescent protein pairs as novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer probes

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) characteristics, including the efficiency, donor-acceptor distance, and binding strength of six fluorescent protein (FP)-quantum dot (QD) pairs were quantified, demonstrating that FPs are efficient acceptors for QD donors with up to 90% quenching of QD fluorescence and that polyhistidine coordination to QD core-shell surface is a straightforward and effective means of conjugating proteins to commercially available QDs. This provides a novel approach to developing QD-based FRET probes for biomedical applications.