Figure 3
Photoacoustic “nanobombs” facilitate accumulation of DOX into the nucleus.
(a) A549 cells were incubated with or without SWCNTs for 1 h followed by administration of DOX and/or laser irradiation for 15 min. The uptake of DOX in cells was determined by flow cytometry. Untreated cells were used as control. Means+SD. of three independent experiments are shown. **P < 0.01. (b) A549 cells were incubated with or without SWCNTs for 1 h followed by DOX treatment. Cells were irradiated (or not) at serial time points. Time-dependent dynamics of DOX uptake were then measured by flow cytometry. Means ±SD of three independent experiments are shown. (c) A549 cells were incubated with SWCNTs for 1 h and further incubated with DOX followed by laser irradiation for 15 min. Cells incubated with DOX alone were used as controls. Intracellular uptake of DOX was observed by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The nucleus was stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars = 10 μm. (d) Quantitative analysis of the mean fluorescence (red) intensity in cells treated as described in (c). Means ± SD are shown (n = 30). (e,f) Intracellular biodistribution of DOX monitored by confocal microscopy in cells treated with SWCNT/DOX/Laser or free DOX only. (e) Image analysis of subcellular distribution of DOX. (f) Quantification of the ratio of nuclear/whole cell DOX. Means ± SD are shown (n = 30).
