Fig.4. Pitava-NPs inhibit elastin degradation and MMP activities in the aneurysmal aorta.

A, Upper panels: photographs and photomicrographs of suprarenal abdominal aortas. Sections were stained with elastica van Gieson (EVG) solution. Asterisk shows intramural hematoma. The scale bar indicates 1 mm and 50 µm for magnified image. Lower panel: elastin degradation score of the abdominal aortas. N =7 and 10 for FITC-NP and Pitava-NP, respectively. The data were assessed by Fisher’s exact test. B, Ex vivo , near-infrared fluorescent imaging showing MMP activities. Nanoparticles with quenched and MMP-activatable fluorescence were injected by tail vein 24 h before imaging. Right graph shows quantitative data of fluorescent signal counts. N =6. The data were reported as the median±interquartile range using Mann–Whitney U -test.