Substrate Metabolism-Driven Assembly of High-Quality CdS_xSe_1–x Quantum Dots in Escherichia coli: Molecular Mechanisms and Bioimaging Application

Biosynthesis offers opportunities for cost-effective and sustainable production of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), but is currently restricted by poor controllability on the synthesis process, resulting from limited knowledge on the assembly mechanisms and the lack of effective control strategies. In this work, we provide molecular-level insights into the formation mechanism of biogenic QDs (Bio-QDs) and its connection with the cellular substrate metabolism in Escherichia coli. Strengthening the substrate metabolism for producing more reducing power was found to stimulate the production of several reduced thiol-containing proteins (including glutaredoxin and thioredoxin) that play key roles in Bio-QDs assembly. This effectively diverted the transformation route of the selenium (Se) and cadmium (Cd) metabolic from Cd₃(PO₄)₂ formation to CdS_xSe_1–x QDs assembly, yielding fine-sized (2.0 ± 0.4 nm), high-quality Bio-QDs with quantum yield (5.2%) and fluorescence lifetime (99.19 ns) far exceeding the existing counterparts. The underlying mechanisms of Bio-QDs crystallization and development were elucidated by density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulation. The resulting Bio-QDs were successfully used for bioimaging of cancer cells and tumor tissue of mice without extra modification. Our work provides fundamental knowledge on the Bio-QDs assembly mechanisms and proposes an effective, facile regulation strategy, which may inspire advances in controlled synthesis and practical applications of Bio-QDs as well as other bionanomaterials.