Fig. 4. Effects of the Au-NPs on the He-CAP induced intracellular apoptotic pathway.

Cells were treated with or without Au-NPs and exposed to He-CAP for 2 min, 18 h after following different treatments, the percentage of MMP loss in these cells, using TMRM staining and intracellular Ca²⁺ level using fluo-3/AM were measured by flow cytometry. a Loss of MMP. Results are represented as means ± S.E.M. of three independent experiments, **P < 0.001 compared with the He-CAP alone group evaluated by Student’s t test (S.E.M. is indicated by bars). b Representative flow cytometry histogram of M.M.P. loss. c Intracellular calcium concentration. Results are represented as means ± S.E.M. of three independent experiments, **P < 0.001 compared with the He-CAP alone group evaluated by Student’s t test (S.E.M. is indicated by bars). d Representative flow cytometry histogram of intracellular calcium level changes.