Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
08:53
Synthesis, Functionalization, and Characterization of Fusogenic Porous Silicon Nanoparticles for Oligonucleotide Delivery
Published on: April 16, 2019
8.1K
Biofunctionalized surface-modified silver nanoparticles for gene delivery.
Kishor Sarkar1, Sovan Lal Banerjee, P P Kundu
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012, India.
Journal of Materials Chemistry. B
|April 9, 2020
Summary
Biofunctionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) show enhanced gene delivery efficiency. These novel nanoparticles offer improved transfection rates with minimal toxicity for biomedical applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Gene Therapy
Background:
- Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are utilized in various biomedical fields, including wound healing and cancer therapy.
- Enhancing the efficacy of AgNPs for gene delivery presents a promising avenue for therapeutic advancements.
- Developing stable, functionalized nanoparticles with high DNA binding capacity and low toxicity is crucial for effective gene transfection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer biofunctionalized, stable AgNPs with enhanced DNA binding ability for efficient gene delivery.
- To synthesize polyethylene glycol (PEG) stabilized chitosan-g-polyacrylamide modified AgNPs using a green chemistry approach.
- To improve transfection efficiency by immobilizing Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptide onto the AgNPs and assess cellular toxicity.
Main Methods:
- One-pot green synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG) stabilized chitosan-g-polyacrylamide modified AgNPs.
- Characterization of nanoparticle size and distribution.
- Immobilization of Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptide onto AgNPs for enhanced gene transfection.
- Evaluation of transfection efficiency in HeLa and A549 cells and comparison with polyethyleneimine (PEI).
- Assessment of cellular toxicity of the engineered nanoparticles.
Main Results:
- PEG stabilized AgNPs exhibited a controlled size of 38 ± 4 nm, unlike unstabilized nanoparticles with bimodal distribution.
- Immobilization of RGDS peptide significantly enhanced transfection efficiency to 42 ± 4% (HeLa) and 30 ± 3% (A549) cells.
- The RGDS-modified AgNPs demonstrated superior transfection efficiency compared to polyethyleneimine (PEI) (25 kDa).
- The engineered nanoparticles exhibited minimal cellular toxicity.
Conclusions:
- Biofunctionalized AgNPs, stabilized with PEG and modified with RGDS peptide, serve as efficient nonviral gene delivery carriers.
- These nanoparticles offer a promising alternative to existing gene delivery vectors due to their enhanced efficacy and low cytotoxicity.
- The study highlights the potential of these engineered AgNPs to augment the therapeutic applications of silver nanoparticles in biomedicine.
