title: Cationic lipid-coated gold nanoparticles as efficient and non-cytotoxic intracellular siRNA delivery vehicles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cationic lipid-coated gold nanoparticles were developed for efficient intracellular delivery of therapeutic siRNA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Particle formation was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and dynamic light scattering analysis. Cellular uptake, gene silencing effect, and cytotoxicity were investigated in multiple human cancer cell lines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nanoparticles had a spherical nanostructure with highly cationic surface charge and could form stable nanosized polyelectrolyte complexes with siRNA via electrostatic interactions; complexes exhibited efficient intracellular uptake and significant gene silencing effect with markedly low cytotoxicity compared to the widely used polycationic carrier, linear polyethyleneimine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated that cationic lipid-coated gold nanoparticles could be widely utilized as efficient and safe siRNA nanocarriers for diverse therapeutic and diagnostic applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Nanoscience & Technology Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Daejeon, 305-701, South Korea. whkong@postech.ac.kr
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Ki Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Sung Duk
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Jee Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Gwan
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000737:chemistry; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D008055:Lipids; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D006046:Gold; D011094:Polyethyleneimine