Figure 1.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite under different magnification (a) 3000× and (b) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid. Scale bar: (a) 1 µm, (b) 0.5 µm.
Figure 1.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite under different magnification (a) 3000× and (b) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid. Scale bar: (a) 1 µm, (b) 0.5 µm.
Figure 2.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite under different magnification (a) 3000× and (b) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: (a) 1 µm, (b) 1 µm.
Figure 2.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite under different magnification (a) 3000× and (b) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: (a) 1 µm, (b) 1 µm.
Figure 3.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of HepG2 cell. Untreated HepG2 cell as control for the nanocomposite cellular uptake by HR-TEM at magnification of 2000×. Abbreviations: nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, cyto—cytoplasm and ED—electron dense. Scale bar: 2 µm.
Figure 3.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of HepG2 cell. Untreated HepG2 cell as control for the nanocomposite cellular uptake by HR-TEM at magnification of 2000×. Abbreviations: nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, cyto—cytoplasm and ED—electron dense. Scale bar: 2 µm.
Figure 4.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 24 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 24 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm— cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, ER— endoplasmic reticulum. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 0.5 µm.
Figure 4.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 24 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 24 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm— cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, ER— endoplasmic reticulum. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 0.5 µm.
Figure 5.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 48 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 48 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, ER—endoplasmic reticulum. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm.
Figure 5.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 48 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 48 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 5000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, ER—endoplasmic reticulum. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm.
Figure 6.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 72 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 72 h by magnification of (A) 2000× and (B) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm.
Figure 6.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA nanocomposite at 72 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA in HepG2 cell at 72 h by magnification of (A) 2000× and (B) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm.
Figure 7.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 24 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 24 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 2000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, R—ribosomes, and cyto—cytoplasm, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 2 µm.
Figure 7.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 24 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 24 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 2000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, R—ribosomes, and cyto—cytoplasm, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 2 µm.
Figure 8.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 48 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 48 h by magnification of (A) 3000×, (B) 2000× and (C) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, Nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, and cyto—cytoplasm, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm (C) 1 µm.
Figure 8.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 48 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 48 h by magnification of (A) 3000×, (B) 2000× and (C) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, Nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, and cyto—cytoplasm, Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm (C) 1 µm.
Figure 9.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 72 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 72 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 3000×, (C) 3000× and (D) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, R—ribosome and cyto—cytoplasm. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm (C) 1 µm (D) 1 µm.
Figure 9.
High resolution transmission electron micrographs of GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposite at 72 h. Cellular uptake of GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cell at 72 h by magnification of (A) 3000× and (B) 3000×, (C) 3000× and (D) 3000×. Abbreviations: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid, cm—cell membrane, nu—nucleolus, n—nucleus, nm—nuclear membrane, mt—mitochondria, v—vacuole, L—lipid droplet, R—ribosome and cyto—cytoplasm. Red arrow indicates the nanocomposite. Scale bar: (A) 1 µm (B) 1 µm (C) 1 µm (D) 1 µm.
Figure 10.
HepG2 treated with FITC-GOP-PCA-FA conjugated at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviations: FITC-GOP-PCA-FA—fluorescein isothiocyanate-graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 10.
HepG2 treated with FITC-GOP-PCA-FA conjugated at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviations: FITC-GOP-PCA-FA—fluorescein isothiocyanate-graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 11.
Untreated HepG2 at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 11.
Untreated HepG2 at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 12.
HepG2 treated with GOP-PCA-FA conjugated at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviation: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 12.
HepG2 treated with GOP-PCA-FA conjugated at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviation: GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 13.
HepG2 treated with FITC alone at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviation: FITC—fluorescein isothiocyanate. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 13.
HepG2 treated with FITC alone at 0 h, 24 h and 48 h under fluorescent microscope. Magnification 100×. Abbreviation: FITC—fluorescein isothiocyanate. Scale bar: 100 µm.
Figure 14.
(a) Microscopic image evaluation of the untreated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (b) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (c) Microscopic image evaluation of PCA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (d) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-PCA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (e) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-PCA-FA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Red box: Indication for inhibition zone. Scale bar: 100 µm. The effect of the control (untreated), GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA with migration assay using a confluent monolayer of HepG2 cells at 38 µg/mL. Cell migration was observed in response to an artificial injury. A single representative area is shown immediately after 48 h treatment with the GOP, PCA, and GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposites. Abbreviation: GOP—graphene oxide coated with PEG, PCA-protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, and GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid.
Figure 14.
(a) Microscopic image evaluation of the untreated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (b) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (c) Microscopic image evaluation of PCA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (d) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-PCA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Scale bar: 100 µm. (e) Microscopic image evaluation of GOP-PCA-FA-treated HepG2 migration assay. Magnification 40×. Red box: Indication for inhibition zone. Scale bar: 100 µm. The effect of the control (untreated), GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA with migration assay using a confluent monolayer of HepG2 cells at 38 µg/mL. Cell migration was observed in response to an artificial injury. A single representative area is shown immediately after 48 h treatment with the GOP, PCA, and GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA nanocomposites. Abbreviation: GOP—graphene oxide coated with PEG, PCA-protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, and GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid.
Figure 15.
Potential cell migration rate of untreated, GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cells at 48 h. The triplicate data are presented as mean ± SD. The significant differences (p < 0.05) * were determined among untreated HepG2 against GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA and (p < 0.05) # using PCA treated against nanocomposites by using one-way ANOVA followed by Games−Howell post hoc tests. Abbreviation: GOP—graphene oxide coated with PEG, PCA—protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid.
Figure 15.
Potential cell migration rate of untreated, GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA in HepG2 cells at 48 h. The triplicate data are presented as mean ± SD. The significant differences (p < 0.05) * were determined among untreated HepG2 against GOP, PCA, GOP-PCA and GOP-PCA-FA and (p < 0.05) # using PCA treated against nanocomposites by using one-way ANOVA followed by Games−Howell post hoc tests. Abbreviation: GOP—graphene oxide coated with PEG, PCA—protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid, GOP-PCA-FA—graphene oxide coated PEG and loaded with protocatechuic acid tagged with folic acid.