Figure 15.

A) Representative temperature profile inside of endometriotic graft during photothermal therapy (PTT) mediated by intravenously injected SiNc-NP in combination with 780 nm light (0.9 W cm⁻², red curve). Mice were injected with SiNc-NP 24 h prior to NIR light treatment. The black curve represents a temperature profile inside of endometriotic graft upon exposure to 780 nm light only (without SiNc-NP injection). B) Representative growth profiles of subcutaneous endometriotic grafts after the following treatments: 1) saline, mice injected with saline; 2) SiNc-NP, mice injected intravenously with SiNc-NP (3 mg SiNc per kg); 3) light, mice injected with saline and exposed to 780 nm light (0.9 W cm²) for 15 min at 24 h post-injection; 4) SiNc-NP + light, mice injected intravenously with SiNc-NP (3 mg SiNc per kg) and exposed to 780 nm light (0.9 W cm²) for 15 min at 24 h post-injection. C-G) Effect of PTT on graft histology and steroid receptor staining. In control mice not receiving PTT, the grafts displayed enlarged endometriotic glands and stroma (C and E). In these mice, the grafts stained strongly for both ESR1 and PGR (G and I). Endometriotic glands and stroma were lost after PTT and graft sites were replaced with murine connective Tissue (D and F). Minimal ESR1 and PGR staining nuclei were observed after PTT therapy (H and G. The inset in (I) shows irrelevant IgG control (anti-Br(d)U) showing staining specificity for both ESR1 and PGR. “gl” indicates glands; “s” indicates stroma; “sc” indicates stromal connective tissue with minimal ESR1 and PGR staining. 5X, 5× plan apochromatic objective; 20X, 20× plan apochromatic objective. Reproduced with permission.^[11] Copyright, 2020, Wiley-VCH.