title: Application of Polyethylenimine-Grafted Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Gene Transfection.
abstract: Polyplexes are one of the most important and promising approaches to deliver exogenous DNA into cells. However, it is severely restricted by the aggregation of polyplexes. Surface-tethered polyplexes can inhibit the aggregation effect and increase the local concentrations of DNA, exhibiting an excellent potential in gene transfection. Since silicon nanowires have the ability to penetrate the cell membrane, branched polyethylenimine (bPEI)-grafted silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWAs) can stimulate gene transfection to a great extent. Herein, the method for the preparation of bPEI-grafted SiNWAs, as an example of surface-tethered polyplexes, is introduced in detail.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, P. R. China. wanghw@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, 199 Ren'ai Road, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, P. R. China. yuanl@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D011094:Polyethyleneimine; D004247:DNA; D012825:Silicon
keywords: DNA; Gene transfection; Polycation; Polyplexes; Surface