FIG. 4.

In vivo binding duration of the targeted SNO nanofibers. The carotid artery balloon injury model was performed and 2.5 mg of Alexa-Fluor 546-tagged targeted SNO nanofiber was injected via the tail vein. At different time points, the carotid arteries were harvested and binding of the nanofiber to the injured artery was assessed via fluorescent microscopy using a 20× objective. (A) Red pixel quantification of bound nanofiber. The fluorescence persists at the site of interest until day 3. N = 2 rats/group with 15 technical replicates, *p < 0.05. (B) Representative cross-section fluorescence imaging of control and injured carotid arteries from animals injected with the targeted nanofiber (2.5 mg) over time. Red = Alexa Fluor tag, Green = elastic lamina. To see this illustration in color, the reader is referred to the web version of this article at www.liebertpub.com/ars