Fig. 6. In vivo anti-metastasis effect by combined extracellular and intracellular PDT in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice.

a Therapeutic schedule for combined PDT. b In vivo and ex vivo lung metastasis of each group analyzed by bioluminescence imaging. c The quantitative result of ex vivo lung metastasis in Fig. 6b. Data were presented as mean ± s.d. (n = 5 biologically independent mice). Statistical analysis by two-sided Student t-test. d H&E staining of the lungs at the end of antitumour study. The areas pointed by the arrow were tumor metastasis nodules. Scale bar = 1 mm. e–g The downregulation of integrin β1 by intracellular PDT or extracellular PDT measured by e western blot, f flow cytometry (n = 3 biologically independent cell samples, two-sided Student t-test), and g confocal microscope. The tumor cells treated with intracellular PDT or extracellular PDT were washed with PBS and then lysed with RIPA lysis buffer for western blot analysis. The treated cells were stained with integrin β1 antibody followed by AF594-conjugated secondary antibody, then analyzed by flow cytometry and confocal microscope, respectively. Scale bar = 20 μm. All data were presented as mean ± s.d.