Development of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles and Studying The Effect of Surface Modification on EGFP Plasmid Transfection in Cancer Cell Line.

Nano-mediated delivery systems have became as more applicable methods in medical field than other nonviralsystems due to having enhanced transfection and controlled released of genetic materials and drugs to target cellsand organs. Chemically modified MSNs have attracted more interests in recent years since their specific properties suchas chemically and thermally stability with adjustable morphology and porosity. In this study MCM-41 and modifiedstructures with amine and imidazole groups are improved for gene delivery and experimental gene therapy. The modifiedstructure were characterized via FT-IR spectroscopy and the amount of chemical elements was determined by CHNanalysis. The Crystallinity was detected by XRD technique. Morphological characteristic were determined by TEM andFE-SEM which showed nanoparticle formation in the size ranges between 60-100 nm. Synthesized carriers were loadedwith EGFP plasmid and their complexes were examined with agarose gel retardation assay and DNase1 digestion. Thesurface charge of MSN-DNA were defined by zeta potential. Gene transfection of this modified nano-carriers wereexamined at different N/P by monitoring expression of GFP with flowcytometry and their cytotoxicity was tested byMTT method. The results have shown the efficiency of modified MCM-41 structures while having amine and imidazolegroups in gene delivery.

Keywords:

Gene delivery , Mesoporous Silica Nano-particles , Amine , Imidazole , Modification