implying that a substantial amount of the sAuNRs has entered the cells. In contrast, the cells treated with the FITC-labeled bAuNRs show much smaller fluorescence from the local cytoplasm. The results demonstrate higher cell uptake by the sAuNRs for the macrophages than bAuNRs and for normal HSCs, higher cell uptake of sAuNRs can also be observed in comparison with bAuNRs.