Fig. 6
Anticancer activity of Iren-AuSiO2_Aptamer nanoplatforms on 3D spheroids of EGFR+/PDGFRβ− cancer cells and MSC. A Growth kinetic of BT-474 + MSC spheroids represented in spheroid diameter over 13 days. The representative phase-contrast microscopy images of spheroids formation over the course of thirteen days are reported in Supplementary Fig. 10A. B Representative confocal images of BT-474/MSC spheroids grown at day 13 and then incubated with Iren-AuSiO2_CL4, Iren-AuSiO2_Gint4.T, Iren-AuSiO2_CL4_Gint4.T, or untargeted Iren-AuSiO2_Scr for 24 h at 37°C. Nanoparticles and nuclei are displayed in red and blue, respectively. 3D image (Iren-AuSiO2_CL4_Gint4.T) is shown. Magnification: 10 × , 1.0 × digital zoom, scale bar = 100 μm. All digital images were captured under the same settings to enable a direct comparison of staining patterns. C Representative phase-contrast microscopy images of BT-474/MSC spheroids treated as indicated. Spheroids treatment with specific aptamer-decorated nanoplatforms, but not with Iren-AuSiO2_Scr, inhibits both the D number of spheroids and E cell viability, expressed as percentage of viable treated cells with respect to untreated spheroids. F Growth kinetic of A431 + MSC spheroids represented in spheroid diameter over 13 days. The representative phase-contrast microscopy images of spheroids formation over the course thirteen days are reported in Supplementary Fig. 10B. G Cell viability assay on A431 + MSC spheroids treated as in C. A,D,E,F,G Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3); *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.001 relative to Iren-AuSiO2_Scr; #p < 0.05, ###p < 0.001, ####p < 0.0001. No statistically significant variations among Iren-AuSiO2_Scr and untreated were obtained