Effects of directionality of mRNA binding to AuNP-DNA and presence of cap structure at the 5′-terminus of mRNA.

<p>HeLa cells were treated with AuNP-αRNA I hybridized to Cy3-5’dsRED mRNA, Cy3-3’dsRED mRNA, Cy3-5′, 3’dsRED mRNA, or Cy3-CAP-5’dsRED mRNA. Fluorescent images show the Cy3-labeled mRNA signal in the left panels and the red fluorescent signal of the dsRED protein in the right panels. Representative confocal microscopy images of HeLa cells for each treatment are shown, along with schematic representations of <i>in </i><i>vitro</i> transcripts and a diagram of the AuNP-αRNA I-mRNA binding structure. Bar indicates 20 µm. Relative intensities of fluorescence in cells were measured using ImageJ software. The values are shown by setting intensities of fluorescence from cells treated with AuNP-αRNA I + Cy3-5’dsRED mRNA as 100. Relative intensities of fluorescence were obtained from 10 cells of each treatment and are shown as the mean ± SEM (standard error of mean).