The cells (1 × 10^6 ) were seeded into a 10-cm dish and incubated for 24 h. The DNA solution (15 μg of the NF-κB-luc2 plasmid dissolved in 235 μL of 150 mM NaCl) was mixed with 250 μL of jetPEI solution (20 μL of the jetPEI reagent diluted in 230 μL of 150 mM NaCl) and subsequently incubated with 500 μL of DNA-jetPEI for 30 min at room temperature. The DNA-jetPEI mixture was added to CL1-5-F4 cells in a 10-cm-diameter dish and incubated overnight.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors are commonly used as the first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC; however, the efficacy of drug delivery remains unknown. Hence, we successfully developed erlotinib-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles (FeDC-E NPs) as theranostic probe that can potentially provide a new avenue for monitoring drug delivering through noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging. MRI DeltaR2* relaxivity measurements offer an opportunity to quantitatively evaluate the uptake of FeDC-E NPs at cellular and tumoral levels. Additionally, NF-kappaB reporter gene system provides NF-kappaB activation status monitoring to validate the therapeutic efficiency of FeDC-E NPs. FeDC-E NPs not only inhibit the tumor growth and NF-kappaB-modulated antiapoptotic mechanism but also trigger extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Taken together, dual functional FeDC-E NPs offer diagnostic and therapeutic benefits against lung cancers, indicating that our presented probe could be applied in clinical.