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. 2022 Sep 23;8(38):eabo6638. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abo6638

Fig. 3. Effective and RPE-specific intraocular RGD-LNC enrichment.

Fig. 3.

(A) Nanocapsule accumulation after intravenous administration and 1 hour of blood circulation in % ID per gram of tissue in healthy mice. (B) Absolute target tissue distribution in % ID of RGD-LNCs and LNCs in the retina. (C) TEM images showing dual RGD-LNCs in the posterior eye 1 hour after intravenous administration. Top: RGD-LNCs are associated with endothelial cells. Middle: RGD-LNCs adjacent to and migrating in the Bruch’s membrane. Bottom: RGD-LNCs internalized in RPE cells. Arrows indicate electron-dense superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) containing dual RGD-LNCs. From left to right: Squared out regions show progressive magnification. Scale bars, 250 nm. Representative images of at least n = 5 biologically independent samples. (D) Sagittal section of eyes stained for endothelial cells (CD31; green) and cell nuclei (DAPI; blue) showing RPE-specific accumulation of RGD-LNCs 1 hour after intravenous administration. Nanocapsule accumulation in the RPE is indicated with white arrows. Lilac: Nanocapsule-associated fluorescence. Squared out region shows magnification. Scale bars, 20 μm. (E and F) Quantitative analysis of nanoparticle fluorescence 1 hour after administration of LNCs or RGD-LNCs (E) and of RGD-LNCs at different time points (F). Results are presented as means ± SD of n = 6 (A and B) mice per treatment group, n = 5 (E), or at least n = 3 (F). Levels of statistical significance are indicated as *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, and ****P ≤ 0.0001. P values were determined by two-way ANOVA (A), unpaired t test (B), and one-way ANOVA (E and F).