title: Modification of nanostructured calcium carbonate for efficient gene delivery.
abstract: In this study, a facile method to modify nanostructured calcium carbonate (CaCO3) gene delivery systems by adding calcium phosphate (CaP) component was developed. CaCO3/CaP/DNA nanoparticles were prepared by the co-precipitation of Ca(2+) ions with plasmid DNA in the presence of carbonate and phosphate ions. For comparison, CaCO3/DNA nanoparticles and CaP/DNA co-precipitates were also prepared. The effects of carbonate ion/phosphate ion (CO3(2-)/PO4(3-)) ratio on the particle size and gene delivery efficiency were investigated. With an appropriate CO3(2-)/PO4(3-) ratio, the co-existence of carbonate and phosphate ions could control the size of co-precipitates effectively, and CaCO3/CaP/DNA nanoparticles with a decreased size and improved stability could be obtained. The in vitro gene transfections mediated by different nanoparticles in 293T cells and HeLa cells were carried out, using pGL3-Luc as a reporter plasmid. The gene transfection efficiency of CaCO3/CaP/DNA nanoparticles could be significantly improved as compared with CaCO3/DNA nanoparticles and CaP/DNA co-precipitates. The confocal microscopy study indicated that the cellular uptake and nuclear localization of CaCO3/CaP/DNA nanoparticles were significantly enhanced as compared with unmodified CaCO3/DNA nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China; Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, PR China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
authors.forename: Chao-Qun
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
authors.forename: Ren-Xi
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China. Electronic address: chengsixue@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Si-Xue
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D016923:Cell Death; D002470:Cell Survival; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008156:Luciferases / Q000378:metabolism; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D002130:Calcium Phosphates; C020243:calcium phosphate; D008156:Luciferases; D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Calcium carbonate; Calcium phosphate; Co-precipitates; Gene delivery; Nanoparticles