Figure 3.

(a) Schematic illustration of the targeted and non-targeted internalization of azido-/Cy5-NCs by cancer cells. (b) Flow cytometry profiles of LS174T cells following treatment with either Ac₄ManDBCO (blue curve) or PBS (red curve) for 72 h and further incubation with azido-/Cy5-NCs for 30 min. Cells without azido-/Cy5-NCs treatment served as negative controls (black curve). (c) Mean fluorescence intensity of LS174T cells after incubation with azido-/Cy5-NCs or Cy5-NCs for 0.5, 1, and 2 h, respectively following pre-treatment with Ac₄ManDBCO for 72 h. Cells treated with azido-/Cy5-NCs following pretreatment with PBS served as controls (n=6). Statistically significantly lower Cy5 fluorescence intensity than Ac₄ManDBCO+azido-/Cy5-NCs group was observed in both PBS+azido-/Cy5-NCs and Ac₄ManDBCO+Cy5-NCs groups (0.01 < *P ≤ 0.05, and 0.001 < **P ≤ 0.01).