Figure 6.

In vivo and ex vivo imaging on an orthotopic dog invasive bladder cancer model in mice. (A) In vivo imaging of mice 24 hours after receiving free DiD dye or nontargeting (NM-DiD) or targeting (PLZ4-NM-DiD) micelles loaded with PTX/DiD. Mice were covered to protect bladder xenografts and to prevent evaporation of vital organs. (B) Ex vivo imaging of the tumor/bladder and other major organs 24 hours after injection. The color bar represents the relative fluorescence strength. (C) The average fluorescence strength of whole tumor/bladder for free DiD, NM-DiD, and PLZ4-NM-DiD was calculated from three different mice (*P < 0.05). (D) To eliminate other variations, the fluorescence signals of xenografts were normalized with the signals of the liver, lungs, and muscles of the same mice (*P < 0.05).

Abbreviations: DiD, 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindodicar bocyanine; PTX, paclitaxel.