title: Rapid endosomal escape of prickly nanodiamonds: implications for gene delivery.
abstract: The prickly nanodiamonds easily entered cells via endocytosis followed by unique intracellular translocation characteristics—quick endosomal escape followed by stable residence in cytoplasm. Endosomal membrane rupturing is identified as the major route of nanodiamonds' escaping the vesicle confinement and to the cytoplasm. Little cytotoxicity is observed to associate with the nanodiamonds' cytosolic release. Such features enable its application for gene delivery, which requires both effective cellular uptake and cytosolic release of the gene. Taking green fluorescent protein gene as an example, we demonstrate the successful cytosolic delivery and expression of such a gene using the prickly nanodiamonds as carrier.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong [2] 3rd Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Zhiqin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Kaikei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Pingsai
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lung
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Silu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Saisai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Huan-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong [2] The Chinese University of Hong Kong ShenZhen Research Institute, ShenZhen, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D004705:Endocytosis; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D058612:Nanodiamonds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D058612:Nanodiamonds; D012822:Silicon Dioxide