Fig. 4

Pharmacokinetics and biodistribution. a Mean concentration of DOX in plasma after intravenous administration of DOX, TD/DOX, DOX@liposome and LNSD (n = 3, with the same DOX dosage of 5 mg/kg). b Circulation half-lives of DOX, TD/DOX, DOX@liposome and LNSD obtained by fitting the circulation profile data (n = 3). c AUC of DOX, TD/DOX, DOX@liposome and LNSD after injection (n = 3). d To determine the DOX leakage of DOX@liposome and LNSD, the drug-containing NPs were incubated with plasma for 4 h and the level of DOX was determined in the plasma (n = 3). e Biodistribution of DOX, TD/DOX, DOX@liposome and LNSD over a span of 24 h after injection (n = 3). f Tumor-targeting efficacy of DOX, TD/DOX, DOX@liposome and LNSD over a span of 24 h after injection (n = 3). g In vivo optical images of tumor-bearing mice at different time after injection with IR783 loaded LNSD. Data presented are means ± SD. ***p < 0.01