Fig. 7.

DOX-loaded 2D-HFn remarkably reduced tumor growth. a The experimental procedure of the therapeutic treatment on U-87MG tumor-bearing mice. Briefly, mice were implanted with U-87MG cells via subcutaneous injection. When the tumor size reached approximately 80 mm³, the mice were randomly divided into four groups and i.v. injected with various treatments every three days for a total of three injections. The four groups included the saline (control), 2D-HFn, DOX and DOX-loaded 2D-HFn (2D-HFn-DOX) groups. The body weights and the tumor sizes were measured every two days. b There was no significant difference in body weight among all groups during the procedure. c The tumor volumes of each group during the treatment. The average tumor volume of the DOX-loaded 2D-HFn group was remarkably smaller than that of the other groups (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; one-way ANOVA; N = 5; mean ± sd). d After treatment, the mice were sacrificed, and the tumors from all groups were dissected and weighed. Compared with the other groups, the average tumor weight of the mice treated with DOX-loaded 2D-HFn was the smallest (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; one-way ANOVA; N = 5; mean ± sd)