Figure 4.

HA coating enhances the uptake of AuNFs by liver and lymphoma cells. A+B) B6 naïve mice or mice bearing EL4 subcutaneous tumors were sacrificed and hepatic cells were analyzed by flow cytometry (n=3–5), A) Monocytic (M)-MDSC (CD11b+Ly6G-Ly6C+) and polymorphonuclear (PMN)-MDSC (CD11b+Ly6G+Ly6C-) frequencies of hepatic CD45+ cells are presented (Mean ± SEM); B) Expression of CD44 in the hepatic hematopoietic cells (CD45+) and epithelial cells (EpCAM+) was determined via flow cytometry; C-H) Subcutaneous EL4 lymphoma nodules were established in B6 mice and groups of four mice each were treated with Cy7-labled control AuNFs or HA-coated AuNFs. C) Biodistribution of Cy-AuNFs and Cy7-HA-AuNFs was analyzed at different timepoints (10 min, 3 h, 6 h, 9 h and 24 h) by in vivo NIR fluorescence imaging; D) Ex vivo fluorescence imaging-based quantitative analysis of various organs at 12 h and 24 h post i.v. injection of control and HA-coated AuNFs; E) ICP-OES analysis to detect the trace amounts of gold nanoparticles in explanted organs at 12 h and 24 h post-AuNF injection. Data is presented as Mean ± SEM; F) The normalized HA-AuNF quantity in the whole blood of mice (percentage of the injected dose (ID) remaining in the blood) at various time points after HA-AuNF injection (15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, 12 h, 1 day, 2 day, 4 day, 7 day) was used to determine the pharmacokinetics of intravenously administered HA-AuNFs in mice (n=5); G) Co-localization of fluorescence signal showing that HA-coated AuNFs (red) accumulate in EL4 tumor (blue) nodules in vivo 9 h after i.v. HA-AuNF administration; an image of one representative mouse is presented; H) AuNFs in EL4 lymphoma nodules were quantified via ICP-OES for up to 7 days post i.v. injection of control and HA-coated AuNFs. Nonlinear regression curves and Mean ± SEM of individual measurements are presented.