Figure 7.

Confocal microscopy images of HeLa-LFAR cells and HeLa-HFAR cells with Au DENPs-FI-FA-DTA for 2 hours (a) and HeLa tumor xenografts (b). The cells were plated onto a plastic coverslip and incubated with functionalized Au DSNPs for 24 h. After 3 washes with PBS, the nuclei were counterstained with DAPI for 10 seconds. The FI fluorescence was then examined on an Olympus FluoView 500 laser scanning confocal microscope with an excitation wavelength of 488 nm and emission wavelengths of 505-525. The green coloration results from the FI dye that is conjugated to the dendrimers. Positive fluorescence signals can be observed in both HeLa cells and in the HeLa cell line xenograft tumor tissues that express high levels of FR following the treatment with Au DENPs-FI-FA-DTA, but no green signals were detected after the treatment with DENPs without FA modification, which confirms the specificity of Au DENPs-FI-FA-DTA as imaging probes for targeted CT imaging of HeLa cells