We herein introduce a kind of fluorescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) bioprobes, that is, peptides-conjugated SiNPs, which simultaneously feature small sizes (<10 nm), biological functionality, and stable and strong fluorescence (photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY): ∼28%), as well as favorable biocompatibility. Taking advantage of these merits, we further demonstrate such resultant SiNPs bioprobes are superbly suitable for real-time immunofluorescence imaging of cancer cells. Meanwhile, malignant tumor cells could be specifically destroyed by the peptides-conjugated SiNPs, suggesting potential promise of simultaneous detection and treatment of cancer cells.

•The synthetic strategies of fluorescent quantum dots were discussed.•Fluorescent quantum dots-based biomedical optical imaging applications were reviewed.•Risk assessment of fluorescent quantum dots was described.The marriage of nanomaterials with biology has significantly promoted advancement of biological techniques, profoundly facilitating basic research and practical applications in biological and biomedical fields. Taking advantages of unique optical properties (e.g., strong fluorescence, robust photostability, size-tunable emission wavelengths, etc.), fluorescent quantum dots (QDs), appearing as high-performance biological fluorescent nanoprobes, have been extensively explored for a variety of biomedical optical imaging applications. In this review, we present representative synthetic strategies for preparation of QDs and their applications in biomedical optical imaging, as well as risk assessments in vitro and in vivo. Briefly, we first summarize recent progress in fabrication of QDs via two rudimentary approaches, i.e., organometallic route and aqueous synthesis. Next we present representative achievement in QDs-based in vitro and in vivo biomedical optical imaging applications. We further discuss the toxicity assessment of QDs, ranging from cell studies to animal models. In the final section, we discuss challenges and perspectives for the QDs-relative bioapplications in the future.