Fig. 3: Bio-adhesion ability of NPs on mucosal tissues.

a Schematic illustration of the apparatus on bio-adhesion study. b The bio-adhesion profiles of NPs on the rat intestinal mucosa measured by weight loss. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). ***P < 0.001 by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. c Fluorescence images and d average intensity of NPs remained on the rat intestinal mucosa after elution. The color bar indicates the fluorescence intensity. Experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. e The bio-adhesion profiles of NPs on the human intestinal mucosa measured by weight loss. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). *P < 0.05 by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. f Fluorescence images and g average intensity of NPs remained on the human intestinal mucosa after elution. The color bar indicates the fluorescence intensity. Experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). *P < 0.05 by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. h The bio-adhesion images of RITC labeled NPs performed on the human intestinal mucosa. Experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. i CLSM images of RITC labeled NPs remained on the human intestinal mucosa; blue: nuclei of the intestinal mucosa stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), red: RITC labeled NPs, scale bar: 100 μm. Experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. j Fluorescence images of NPs remained on the GI tract after oral administration. Experiment was repeated three times independently with similar results. The color bar indicates the fluorescence intensity. Average intensity of NPs remained in the k GI tract, l stomach and m small intestine after oral administration. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). *P < 0.05 by two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.