Figure 3.

Nanoparticle cytocompatibility (A) and in vitro comparison of kinetic assembled NPs versus thermodynamic assembled micelles for inhibiting oxLDL uptake (B–C) and foam cell formation (D–E), a critical requisite for atherosclerotic therapies, in HMDMs. A) Cell viability of HMDMs, HCAECs and HCASMCs after incubation with NPs for 24 h and 10 % FBS. Experiment repeated in triplicate, error bars = ± S.D. B) Quantification of DiO oxLDL (5 μg mL⁻¹) uptake by HMDMs after 24 h incubation with AM 1 micelles or NP 1 under 0 to 20% FBS, [AM 1] = 10⁻⁶ M. NP 6 serve as a non-active control and all treatments are normalized to cells incubated exclusively with DiO oxLDL. C) Representative fluorescent images contrasting the level of oxLDL uptake between HMDMs co-incubated with DiO oxLDL (green) and either AM 1 micelles (top) or NP 1 (bottom) under serum-free or 20 % FBS for 24 h. Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst 33342. D) Quantification and E) bright field images of foam cell phenotype after 48 h incubation of HMDMs with no oxLDL (Basal), oxLDL, AM 1 micelles + oxLDL, or NP 1 + oxLDL with 10% FBS ([oxLDL] = 50 μg mL⁻¹, [AM 1] = 10⁻⁵ M). Foam cells were quantified using OilRed O (red) staining and marking cell nuclei with Hoechst 33342. Examples of native HMDM phenotype and foam cell phenotype are highlighted by black and yellow arrows, respectively. Data for Figure 3B and D are from an n = 3 conducted in triplicate (error bars = ± S.E.M.). Figure 3B, statistical significance was evaluated at p < 0.05, * indicates significance versus NP 6 and ^# versus AM 1 micelles. Figure 3D, statistical significance was evaluated at p < 0.05, * indicates significance versus oxLDL and ^# versus Basal conditions.