Cholesterol

The following reagents were obtained: ATF₂₄ peptides (97.16% pure; ChinaPeptides, Shanghai, China), β-E crude drug (99.1% pure; Jusheng Technology, Hubei, China), DDP, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), and DiD (1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindodicarbocyanine perchlorate) (Dalian Meilun Biotechnology, Dalian, China), DDP injection (Haosen Pharmaceutical Group, Jiangsu, China), acetonitrile (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany), soybean lecithin (Tywei, Shanghai, China), cholesterol (99.5% pure; Dingguo Changsheng Biotechnology, Beijing, China), Lipoid DSPE-PEG₂₀₀₀ (Lipoid, Ludwigshafen, Germany), DSPE-PEG₂₀₀₀-COOH (Avanti Polar Lipids, Alabaster, AL, USA), RPMI 1640 and fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA), DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and Crystal Violet (Beyotime, Shanghai, China), ProLong™ Gold Antifade Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), a BD Pharmingen™ FITC Annexin V Apoptosis Detection Kit I (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA), and a Cell Cycle Staining Kit [Multi Sciences (Lianke) Biotech, Hangzhou, China].

Ferric ammonium citrate and a rabbit antibody against β-actin were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (USA). Soya bean lecithin (a source of phospholipids) was purchased from Beijing Huaqing Meiheng Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (China). Cholesterol was purchased from Beijing Dingguo Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (China). A rabbit polyclonal antibody against L-ferritin was obtained from Abcam (United Kingdom), and rabbit monoclonal antibodies against B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (USA). The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated FITC-dUDP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) kit was from TaKaRa (Japan). All other analytical reagents and chemicals were purchased from Bio-High Technology Development Co. Ltd. (China).

β-E standard (99.4% pure; National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, Beijing, China), β-E crude drug (99.1% pure; Jusheng Technology Co., Hubei, China), elemene injection (0.1 g/20 mL, Dalian Holley King Kong Pharmaceutical Co., Dalian, China), acetonitrile (Merck Co., Ltd, Darmstadt, Germany), soybean lecithin (Tywei, Shanghai, China), cholesterol (99.5% pure, Dingguo Changsheng Biotechnology Co., Beijing, China), Lipoid DSPE-PEG 2000 (Lipoid GmbH, Ludwigshafen, Germany), L-histidine (Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Shanghai, China), Kolliphor^® hydroxystearate (HS) 15 (BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany), 95% ethanol (Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Shanghai, China), cell counting kit 8 (Dalian Meilun Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Dalian, China), RPMI 1640 (Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA), and fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Gibco, Waltham, MA, USA) were obtained. All other reagents used in this study were of analytical grade and were used without further purification. The water used in this study was filtered using a Millipore Milli-Q™ water purification system (Millipore Corp., Milford, MA, USA).