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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 May 8.
Published in final edited form as: ACS Nano. 2018 Nov 15;12(12):12269–12283. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b06058

Figure 8.

Figure 8

In vivo evaluation of the PA imaging and synergistic PTT-enhanced CO gas therapy with HMOPM-CO. (a) Representative PA images of U87MG tumors taken before and at different time points after intravenous injection of HMOPM-CO or HMOPM. The maximum PA intensity was observed at 24 h p.i. in both groups. (b) Thermographic images of mice at the end of an 808 nm irradiation at 24 h p.i. of HMOPM-CO, HMOPM, or PBS. (c, d) Temperature rise curves (n = 5, mean ± s.d.) at tumor regions during the irradiations at 1.0 W/cm2 (c) or 0.3 W/ cm2 (d). A 1.0 W/cm2 laser could significantly and rapidly heat the nanoparticle-treated tumors to around 50 °C, whereas a 0.3 W/cm2 laser only limitedly heated the tumors to a temperature below 40 °C. (e−g) Therapy studies with HMOPM-CO on U87MG tumor model (n = 5). Nanoparticles were intravenously administrated into the mice, and an 808 nm irradiation (1.0 W/cm2 for 5 min or 0.3 W/cm2 for 20 min) was applied at 24 h p.i. Seven groups were studied. G1, HMOPM-CO + 1.0 W/cm2 (synergistic PTT/gas therapy). G2, HMOPM + 1.0 W/cm2 (PTT). G3, HMOPM-CO + 0.3 W/cm2 (gas therapy). G4, HMOPM + 0.3 W/cm2. G5, HMOPM-CO. G6, + 1.0 W/cm2. G7, PBS. (e) Tumor growth curves and (f) tumor growth inhibition (TGI) rates of different treatments. Complete tumor eradication was achieved in the synergistic PTT-enhanced CO gas therapy group. The PTT or gas therapy alone also significantly suppressed the tumor growth with a TGI rate of 86.3% and 71.0%, respectively, on day 20. (g) TUNEL assays on tumors acquired after 24 h of different treatments. A significantly higher level of apoptotic cells was found in the synergistic PTT/CO treatment group. Green, TUNEL. Blue, DAPI. Scale bar, 100 μm. *** P < 0.001.