Self-Transfecting Micellar RNA: Modulating Nanoparticle Cell Interactions via High Density Display of Small Molecule Ligands on Micelle Coronas.

ABSTRACT: The intracellular delivery of synthetic nucleic acids represents a major challenge in biotechnology and in biomedicine. Methods to deliver short, double-stranded RNA to living cells are of particular interest because of the potential to engage the RNA interference machinery and to regulate mRNA expression. In this work, we describe novel RNA-polymer amphiphiles that assemble into spherical micellar nanoparticles with diameters of ca. 15-30 nm and efficiently enter live cells without transfection reagents. Each micelle consists of approximately 100 RNA strands forming a densely packed corona around a polymeric core. Importantly, the surface-displayed RNA remains accessible for hybridization with complementary RNA. Chemical modification of the termini of hybridized RNA strands enabled the di

SUBMITTER: Roloff A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993044 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature