Fig. 2.

Targeted delivery of NP to the PNAd-expressing HEV in PDAC. (a) Whole-body NIR fluorescent imaging showing higher trafficking of MECA79-IR800-NPs to PDAC, as compared to non-conjugated IR800-NPs. The dashed area in each image represents the PDAC tumor in vivo and ex vivo post-harvest, respectively. (b) Corresponding MFI of the tumor showing a significant increase in trafficking of MECA79-IR800-NPs, as compared to the non-conjugated IR800-NPs. The data are presented as the mean and SEM (n = 3). (***p < 0.001, student's t-test). (c) Representative immunofluorescence micrograph of the tumor 24 h post-injection of MECA79-IR800-NPs (red) demonstrates their presence around HEV (green). The red arrows point to the areas of MECA79-IR800-NP accumulation in the tumor (Scale bar = 100 μm).