The cells were later centrifuged to remove the citrate buffer and resuspended with PBS buffer with a cell concentration of 1 × 106 cells/mL. The cell suspensions were incubated with trypsinogen for 3 min and then

incubated with RNase for 3 min. Subsequently, the cells were stained with propidium iodide (PI) for 15 min, and the PI-stained cells were then counted using flow cytometry (FACSCalibur, Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) in the red (FL2) channel at 488 nm. The cell cycle profiles, including the G1, G2, and S, phases, and sub-G1 fractions were analyzed using CellQuest software (FACSCalibur, Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, Savolitinib NJ, USA). Cellular uptake of acetylated APTS-coated Fe3O4 NPs The cellular uptake of the acetylated APTS-coated Fe3O4 NPs was primarily evaluated by Prussian blue staining. The C6 glioma cells were plated in 12-well cell culture plates at a density of 5 × 105 cells per well in RPMI 1640 medium with 10% FBS for 24 h. Following this step, the acetylated APTS-coated Fe3O4 NPs were added to each well at different concentrations (0, 10, 25, and 50 μg/mL) and incubated for 4 h at 37°C. Next, the cells were stained with Pearl’s Prussian blue solution. First, the samples were treated with 4% paraformaldehyde for 10 min and were subsequently washed VX-689 molecular weight with

Tris-NaCl buffer. The samples were subsequently exposed to Pearl’s AMN-107 nmr solution for 30 min before being washed with water. After that, the samples were plated onto sterile coverslips mafosfamide prior to microscopic imaging. The cell morphology with Prussian blue staining was observed by optical microscopy (IX71-F22FL/PH, Olympus Corp., Tokyo, Japan). The magnification was set at × 200 for all of the samples. The cellular uptake of acetylated APTS-coated Fe3O4 NPs was further observed by TEM imaging. The C6 glioma cells were plated in six-well cell culture plates at a density of 3 × 105 cells per well in RPMI 1640 medium with 10% FBS for 24 h. These cells were allowed to grow to approximately 80% confluence. Next, the acetylated APTS-coated Fe3O4 NPs were

added to each well at a final concentration of 25 μg/mL and incubated for 24 h at 37°C. The culture medium was discarded, and the cells were washed with PBS buffer, trypsinized, centrifuged, washed three times with PBS buffer, and fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) for 12 h at 4°C. The cells were then post-fixed with 1% OsO4 in 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) for 2 h at 4°C. After additional washes in buffer, the cells were dehydrated and embedded with Epon 812 (Shell Chemical, UK), followed by polymerization. Next, the embedded cells were sectioned using a Reichert-Jung Ultramicrotome (Vienna, Austria). The sections with a thickness of 75 nm were mounted onto 200-mesh copper grids and counterstained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate for 5 min, respectively, prior to the TEM measurements.