Fig. 3.

Uptake of AG-QDs by NR8383 cells under confocal imaging and analysis. a, b: Confocal images of NR8383 cells after treatment with AG-QDs (0, 50, 100, and 200 μg/mL) for 24 h under fluorescence excitation, and bright field, respectively. c: Merged images of (a) and (b). d Fluorescence intensity of AG-QDs (200 μg/mL) in NR8383 cell at different cell depths along the z axis (z = 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 μm). e Uptake (indicated by blue fluorescence) of AG-QDs (0, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL) after exposure for 24 and 48 h as quantified by a fluorescence spectrophotometer. f Effect of specific endocytosis inhibitors on the uptake of AG-QDs (200 μg/mL) by NR8383 cells during 24-h incubation. In panel (f), the treatments I0-I5 represent the cells after incubation with AG-QDs, NaN₃, cytochalasin D, genistein, chlorpromazine, and amiloride, respectively. Significant differences among different treatments are marked with letters “a-d” (p < 0.05, LSD, n = 6). In panel (e), for a given exposure time, significant differences among AG-QDs concentrations are marked with different letters (p < 0.05, LSD, n = 6)