title: MicroRNA conjugated gold nanoparticles and cell transfection.
abstract: While the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer treatment or manipulation of genetic expression has been increasingly recognized for developing miRNA-based therapies, the controlled delivery of miRNAs into specific cells constitutes a challenging task. This report describes preliminary findings from an investigation of the conjugation of gold nanoparticles with miRNAs (miRNA-AuNPs) and their cell transfection. The immobilization of miRNAs on the AuNPs was detected, and the surface stability was substantiated by gel electrophoresis assessment of the highly charged characteristics of miRNA-AuNPs and their surface-exchange inactivity with a highly charged surfactant. The miRNA-AuNPs were tested in cell transfection using multiple myeloma cells, demonstrating efficient knockdown in the functional luciferase assay. The findings have important implications for understanding the mechanistic details of cell transfection involving miRNA-conjugated nanoparticles as biosensing or targeting probes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crew
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tessel
authors.forename: Sharaara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Razzak-Jaffar
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mott
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamundi
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Nuri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tchah
authors.forename: Jehwan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellavia
authors.forename: Chuan-Jian
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Chaun-Jian
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000737:chemistry*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D006046:Gold