Fig. 2

Cancer cell-specific cytotoxicity of Aposomes in cell culture system. a Relative expression of cathepsin B in CT26 and 4T1 cancer cells, H9C2 and HDF normal cells, and immune cells of M0 and M1 macrophages, DCs and T cells. b Time-dependent cellular uptake of Aposomes (2 µM based on DOX contents) in CT26 cells. c Relative DOX fluorescence in cytosol or nucleus of CT26 cells after treatment with Aposomes. d Fluorescence images of CT26 cells treated with free DOX, DOXIL or Aposomes (2 µM based on DOX contents) for 48 h with or without cathepsin B inhibitor, Z-FA-FMK. e Fluorescence images of CT26 and 4T1 cancer cells, H9C2 and HDF normal cells, and immune cells of M0 and M1 macrophages, DCs and T cells, which are treated with free DOX, DOXIL or Aposomes for 48 h. f Relative DOX fluorescence in cytosol or nucleus of CT26 and 4T1 cancer cells, H9C2 and HDF normal cells, and immune cells of M0 and M1 macrophages, DCs and T cells after treatment with Aposomes for 48 h. g–i Cell viability of CT26 and 4T1 cancer cells, H9C2 and HDF normal cells, and immune cells of M0 and M1 macrophages, DCs and T cells, which are treated with g free DOX, h DOXIL or i Aposomes for 48 h. j Expression levels of IAP in CT26 cells after treatment with free DOX, DOXIL or Aposomes for 48 h. Significance was determined by Tukey − Kramer post-hoc test