Figure 8.

Cytotoxic effect of the synthesized drug delivery nanosystems in (a) laryngeal cancer cells HEp-2, (b) human lung epithelial cancer cell line A549, and (c) the human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29. The results, obtained in cells treated for 24 h, are reported as percentages of dead cells (treated/untreated cultures). The concentrations of 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg mL⁻¹, shown at the top of the graphs, are those of GQD-PEG-BFG@Pyr-RF, corresponding to 2.1, 5.25, 10.5, 21, and 42 μg mL⁻¹ doses of BGF assayed in the positive controls. For the GQD-PEG-BFG, the assayed doses were calculated to assess the same drug concentrations while for GQD, GQD-PEG, and GQD@Pyr-RF, the examined doses were 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μg mL⁻¹. Each value represents the mean (±SD) of the experiments made in triplicate for each cell line. In each graph, the corresponding values of IC₅₀ are reported below.