Figure 3

Organ distribution of AuNRs. Mice were killed 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days after intravenous injection of 1 mg of AuNRs. The target group was the group injected with peptide-1-conjugated AuNRs, whereas the control group was injected with control-peptide-conjugated AuNRs. Gold concentration was calculated as mass permillage of Au (Au‰) in the corresponding tissue. The inset chart shows the percentage increase (in tumor, represented as positive values) or decrease (in liver, represented as negative values) of gold content in the target group compared with the control group on different days. The data indicate that conjugation of our selected peptide 1 onto AuNRs can effectively increase their uptake by tumors but decrease their uptake by livers.