Fig. 2: In vivo studies of nanobot accumulation in a bladder cancer orthotopic murine model.
From: Urease-powered nanobots for radionuclide bladder cancer therapy
a, Left: tumour volumes (determined by MRI) on days 7 and 14 after cell implantation for the different study groups (n = 6 per group, biological replicates). Results are expressed in a box plot (centre line at the median; upper and lower bounds at 75th and 25th percentiles, respectively; one dot per animal) with whiskers at minimum and maximum values. Right: 2D DW-MRI images of the bladder (hypointense circular region) of two representative mice at t = 7 and 14 days after inoculation of MB49 cells. Scale bars, 2 mm. 3D renders of whole bladders (transparent) and tumours (purple) are presented next to each MRI image. b, Haematoxylin–eosin stains showing bladders containing tumours (delineated by red dotted lines) for one representative animal per group. Scale bars, 1 mm. c, 2D DW-MRI images of the bladder (hypointense circular region) of one representative animal per study group. Tumours appear hyperintense (tumours delineated by a red dotted line and bladders in yellow). Scale bars 2 mm. d, Coronal PET 2D images overlaid on CT images of one representative animal per study group. The dotted cyan cross shows the bladder position and the radioactive intensity has been colour-coded (given as the percentage of injected dose per millilitre, %ID cm−3). Scale bars, 5 mm. e, 3D renders of the whole bladder (transparent) and radioactive signal accumulation (colour-coded) of the PET-CT images shown in d. f, Box (centre line at the median; upper and lower bounds at 75th and 25th percentiles, respectively; one dot per animal) and whisker (minimum and maximum values) plot of radioactivity accumulation normalized by tumour volume (determined by MRI) in animals from all groups (n = 6 for BSA-NPs in water and nanobots in urea, n = 5 for the other groups, biological replicates), shown as percentages of the injected dose per cubic centimetre of tumour (%ID cm−3). Statistical analysis was performed via one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). g, Correlation of tumour accumulation obtained by PET and ICP-MS results for all groups (n = 2 per group, biological replicates).
