Fig. 1

In vitro characterization of Her2 tumor-targeting properties of the functionalized silk particles. a Flow cytometry analysis of the binding of silk spheres to the cancer cells. Murine Her2-overexpressing cells (D2F2E2/LUC) and control Her2-negative cells (D2F2/LUC) were incubated with spheres made of functionalized (H2.1MS1) or control (MS1) silks conjugated with a fluorophore (ATTO647N) and then analyzed cytometrically. b Doxorubicin loading into silk particles. The amount of Dox incorporated into the MS1 and H2.1MS1 spheres are presented. c Cytotoxicity study by the MTT assay. Her2-overexpressing (D2F2E2/Luc) cells and control cells (D2F2/Luc) were cultured in the presence of the silk spheres loaded with Dox (MS1 or H2.1MS1). The percentage of the MTT reduction was calculated in reference to non-treated control cells. The results are expressed as the mean of three independent experiments ± SEM. (**) indicates statistical significance with p < 0.01 and (***) p < 0.001