"Two-way road": how do QDs affect the cells and how do the cells affect QDs?

QDs are attractive fluorophores for basic research and biomedical applications. However, QDs are complex physical entities. When introduced into organism and cells, QDs can be affected by biological microenvironment. Additionally, QDs themselves can affect cells, altering physiological outcomes, which leads to incorrect results' interpretation and side effects. We summarize our data on interdependence of QDs design and cell response to QDs.