1. Reagents and Media Used in This Study We obtained Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (D-MEM), RPMI 1640, 0.25%

(w/v) trypsin and 1mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), verapamil hydroxyl chloride, PLGA, methylene chloride, and polyvinyl alcohol from Wako Pure Chemicals Ltd. (Osaka, Japan). Fetal calf serum (FCS) was from Sanko Junyaku Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Antibiotics (penicillin and streptomycin) and the MTT assay kit were from Nacalai Tesque Co. (Kyoto, Japan). Hoechst 33324 was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Japan K.K. (Tokyo, Japan), and 3,3′-dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (Dio) and Cell Mask Plasma Membrane Stain were from Invitrogen Japan K.K. (Tokyo, Japan). Optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound was Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical from Sakura Co. (Tokyo, Japan).

2.2. Cellular Toxicity of Hoechst 33342 and PLGA Particles IEC-6 cells (a rat small intestinal epithelial cell line) and U-937 cells (a human myeloid cell line) were provided by the RIKEN BRC through the National Bio-resource Project of the MEXT, Japan. IEC-6 cells are nontransformed crypt-like cells click here isolated from the whole small intestine [8]. The U937 cell Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical line is a human cell line established from the pleural effusion of a patient with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma and displaying many monocytic characteristics [9]. IEC-6 cells were routinely grown in D-MEM containing 5% FCS and 0.1% antibiotics (Penicillin and Streptomycin) at 37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. U-937 cells were similarly grown in RPMI1640 containing 10% FCS and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 0.1% antibiotics. IEC-6 or U-937 cells were grown on 96-well plates for 2 days. Serial amounts of Hoechst 33342 (ranging from 0 to 5μg/mL) or PLGA particles incorporated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) only (ranging from 0 to 250μg/mL) were then added to the medium and the cell culture was continued. The cells were viewed and photographed under phase contrast microscopy (CKX31; OLYMPUS Co., Tokyo, Japan) after 1, 2 or 4 days. A cell viability assay was also carried

out using the MTT Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical assay kit according to the manufacturer’s protocol. The absorbance at 570nm was determined using a microplate reader, FLEX station 3 (Molecular Device Japan Co., Tokyo, Japan). The data were represented as the mean of triplicate determinations first normalized to the control value, which was arbitrarily set at 100%. 2.3. Relationship between Concentration of Hoechst 33342 and Fluorescence Intensity To determine whether the concentration of Hoechst 33342 correlates with fluorescence intensity of stained cells, IEC-6 cells were grown on 96 well plates. The medium was exchanged once the cells had reached confluency. The cells were then exposed to serial amounts of Hoechst 33342 (ranging from 0 to 1μg/mL) for a period of 24hrs. These experiments were performed in quadruplicate. Fluorescence intensity of each well was measured using a FXEX station 3 scanning fluorometer with an excitation at 355nm and emission at 460nm. After measurement the medium of each well was removed.