One-step synthesis of peptide-programmed QDs as ready-to-use nanoprobes.

We developed a facile one-step method to produce ready-to-use quantum dots based on a peptide sequence containing a hexahistidine(his₆-tag), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and a functional group, which lead to stable and customized peptide–QDs conjugates that could serve as fluorescent nanoprobes for biological imaging and detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]