Fig. 5

In vivo combined chemo-PDT treatment with H-MnO₂-PEG/C&D. a Representative immunofluorescence images of 4T1 tumor slices collected from untreated control mice and mice 6 h and 12 h post i.v. injection with H-MnO₂-PEG/C&D. The nuclei, blood vessels, and hypoxic areas were stained with DAPI (blue), anti-CD31 antibody (red), and anti-pimonidazole antibody (green), respectively (three mice per group). b Quantification of hypoxia areas in tumors at different time points post injection of our nanoparticles. c Tumor growth curves of different groups of mice after various treatments indicated. Error bars were based on standard errors of the mean (SEM) (six mice per group). d Average weight of tumors collected from mice at day 14th post initiation of various treatments. The predicted addictive effect was calculated by multiplying the tumor growth inhibition ratios of group 4 (PDT alone) and group 5 (chemotherapy alone). e H&E-stained tumor slices collected from mice post various treatments indicated. p values in (c) and (d) were calculated by Tukey’s post-test (***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, or *p < 0.05)