Fig. 11

The therapeutic impact of surface-modified melphalan nanoparticles (NPs) on retinoblastoma (RB). A A schematic depiction of the preparation and concentration of melphalan is provided. B Structural schematic diagrams and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of four distinct NP preparations are depicted: Surface-unmodified PLGA NPs loaded with melphalan (a), surface-modified PLGA NPs loaded with melphalan by TET1 (b), surface-modified PLGA NPs loaded with melphalan by PEG (c), and surface-modified PLGA NPs loaded with melphalan by MPG (d), scale bar = 200 nm. C In an in vitro cellular assay, four different NP formulations in 1 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL melphalan configurations were used to treat Y79 cells for 24 h to observe their cytotoxic effects. MPG NPs were identified as the most effective treatment group. IC50 values for TET1, PEG, and unmodified NPs were higher than those for free melphalan, while MPG NPs demonstrated statistically similar efficacy to free melphalan. IC50 values are displayed as mean ± SD; statistical significance is indicated by *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, ****P ≤ 0.0001. D The influence of surface modification of NPs on Y79 cell binding (black) and internalization (gray) was assessed using flow cytometry. Surface-modified NPs showed increased cell binding and internalization compared to unmodified NPs at 1.5 h (a) and 24 h (b). Data is represented as mean ± SD; statistical significance is indicated by *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, ****P ≤ 0.0001. This figure is reproduced from Ref. [345] with permission from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Inc