title: Gold nanorod--siRNA induces efficient in vivo gene silencing in the rat hippocampus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gold nanorods (GNRs), cellular imaging nanoprobes, have been used for drug delivery therapy to immunologically privileged regions in the brain. We demonstrate that nanoplexes formed by electrostatic binding between negatively charged RNA and positively charged GNRs, silence the expression of the target housekeeping gene, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) within the CA1 hippocampal region of the rat brain, without showing cytotoxicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fluorescence imaging with siRNA(Cy3)GAPDH and dark-field imaging using plasmonic enhanced scattering from GNRs were used to monitor the distribution of the nanoplexes within different neuronal cell types present in the targeted hippocampal region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show robust nanoplex uptake and slow release of the fluorescent gene silencer with significant impact on the suppression of GAPDH gene expression (70% gene silencing, >10 days postinjection). The observed gene knockdown using nanoplexes in targeted regions of the brain opens a new era of drug treatment for neurological disorders.
authors: State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA.
authors: Adela C
authors: AC
authors: Bonoiu
authors: Earl J
authors: EJ
authors: Bergey
authors: Hong
authors: H
authors: Ding
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Hu
authors: Rajiv
authors: R
authors: Kumar
authors: Ken-Tye
authors: KT
authors: Yong
authors: Paras N
authors: PN
authors: Prasad
authors: Supriya
authors: S
authors: Mahajan
authors: Kelly E
authors: KE
authors: Picchione
authors: Arin
authors: A
authors: Bhattacharjee
authors: Tracey A
authors: TA
authors: Ignatowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D024601:Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (NADP+) / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D036103:Nanotechnology; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D006046:Gold; D024601:Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (NADP+)