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Preparation of Neutrally-charged, pH-responsive Polymeric Nanoparticles for Cytosolic siRNA Delivery
Published on: May 2, 2019
Synthesis and Characterization of Aptamer-Targeted SNALPs for the Delivery of siRNA
Samantha E Wilner1, Matthew Levy2
1Department of Biochemistry, Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Room 519, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
Abstract:
Aptamers selected against cell surface receptors represent a unique set of ligands that can be used to target nanoparticles and other therapeutics to specific cell types. Here, we describe a method for using aptamers to deliver stable nucleic acid lipid particles (SNALPs) encapsulating small interfering RNA (siRNA) to cells in vitro. Using this method, we have demonstrated the ability of aptamer-conjugated SNALPs to achieve target-specific delivery and siRNA-mediated knockdown of a gene of interest. We also describe methods to characterize SNALP size, siRNA encapsulation efficiency, and aptamer conjugation efficiency.
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