Fig. 2

a Characterization of fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles (FMSNs). SEM image of FMSNs and photograph showing bright-green photoluminescence from porous silicon nanoparticles under UV/Vis light. b Biodistribution of FMSNs in mice with xenograft tumors. Nude mice bearing subcutaneous human breast tumors were injected via the tail vein with FMSNs. Four hours later, the mice were anesthetized and analyzed with a Maestro 2 in vivo imaging system that produced green fluorescence images. The yellow arrows show the subcutaneous tumors. c Antitumor effects in mice of FMSNs loaded with Camptothecin (CPT). Animals were injected with either saline solution as a control, CPT, FMSNs without loading (FMSN), FMSNs loaded with CPT (FMSN/CPT), or F-FMSNs loaded with CPT (Folic acid-FMSN/CPT) twice per week until the end of the experiment (68 days). The average tumor volumes are shown as means ± SD. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. Reproduced with permission from ref. 29; Copyright 2010 Wiley-VCH