AFM images in Figure 3 indicate three-dimensional topographies of magnetic fluorescent nanoparticles. It seems that the NPs have some aggregations, which may be due to the polymer matrix on the surface of NPs with too high concentration JQEZ5 price resulting in NPs becoming sticky and gluey. The particle average size of magnetic nanoparticles is about 100 nm in diameter. Figure 3 AFM images of magnetic nanoparticles. (a) Height image, (b) corresponding phase image, and (c) 3D rendering of AFM images of magnetic nanoparticles in (a). AFM image of the NP-DNA complex is also analyzed in order to investigate

the binding mechanism between NPs and DNA. As shown in Figure 4a,b, it is apparent that several globes are attached to GDC-973 each individual DNA strand and interact with each other. The blue line trace in Figure 4a shows that the radius of the representative globe is about 50.37 nm, which correlates well with the size of spherical NPs. The results indicate formation of the NP-DNA complexes,

which is in agreement with the agarose gel electrophoresis conclusion. The AFM images further proved an attractive interaction between NPs and DNA leading to the formation of NP-DNA complexes. As shown in Figure 4c, the 3D image of Figure 4b indicates that the NP-DNA complex surface is not smooth due to the magnetic nanoparticles attached on the DNA strand surface. Figure 4 AFM images of NP-DNA complex. (a) Height image (below is the corresponding topographic height profile along the blue line), (b) phase image, and (c) 3D rendering of AFM images of NP-DNA complex in (b). The location of NPs in the cells To verify that the NPs can pass the cell membranes, PK-15 cells were treated with membrane-specific red fluorescent dye DiI for 10 min, and then NPs were incubated in the fluorescently labelled cells with magnetic force-induced sedimentation. After treatments, cells were dyed by DiI to show the red cell membrane location. The green fluorescence signal of NPs can be detected inside the cell after an incubation time of 30 min (Figure 5). Figure 5 Fluorescence images of green magnetic nanoparticles in DiI-labelled Nabilone PK-15 cells and images with greater magnification.

(a to d) Fluorescence images of green magnetic nanoparticles in PK-15 cells labelled with membrane-specific red fluorescent dye DiI. (e to h) Fluorescence images with greater magnification. As shown in Figure 5a,b,c,d, NPs are internalized as intracellular green fluorescent clusters and the cell was clearly outlined with green cluster enrichment in the interior. From the images shown in Figure 5e,f,g,h with greater magnification, the location of NPs inside the cell can be observed clearer. In the process of our experiments, we found that NPs binding to cell membranes occur within few minutes under magnetic field. The presence of intracellular green fluorescent clusters was evidenced by treating NPs for 30 min, which colocalize with the membrane-specific probe DiI.