Fig. 3: In vitro cellular investigation.

a CLSM images and b quantitative analyses of foam cells upon incubation with FA-P, FA-P@M or FA-P@MC for 4 h (n = 5 independent experiments). The cell nuclei were stained with 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; blue fluorescence). Scale bar: 20 μm. c Schematic illustration of in vitro transwell migration assays to evaluate NP transmigration across inflamed HUVECs and subsequent uptake by foam cells. Created in BioRender. Li, W. (2026) https://BioRender.com/xdjn9re. d Representative CLSM images and e quantitative analyses of NP fluorescence signals in foam cells (n = 3 independent experiments). Scale bar: 20 μm. f Representative flow cytometry analysis of NP fluorescence in foam cells in different groups. g CLSM images and h quantified results of DCF fluorescence intensity in foam cells after the treatment of different formulations (n = 5 independent experiments). Scale bar: 100 μm. i Flow cytometry analysis of DCF fluorescence intensity in different groups. In g–i the ROS levels were evaluated using ROS probe, DCFH-DA. j Optical microscopy images of foam cells in different groups, stained with Oil Red O (ORO). Scale bar: 50 μm. k Quantitative analysis of the intracellular ORO by measuring the optical density at 492 nm across various experimental groups (n = 5 independent experiments). All data are expressed as mean ± SD. For f, i experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. For b, e, h, k statistical significance was determined using one-way ANOVA for multiple comparisons. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.