Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles as a novel gene carrier

Hydroxyapatite crystalline nanoparticles were created by a precipitation hydrothermal technique and the majority of crystal particles were in the size range of 40-60 nm and exhibited a colloidal feature when suspended in water. The gastric cancer SGC-7901 cell line cells were cultivated in the presence of 10-100 mug ml(-1) hydroxyapatite nanoparticle suspension and verified by MTT evaluation for their biocompatibility in vitro. The agarose gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that the HA nanoparticles potentially adsorb the green fluorescence protein EGFP-N1 plasmid DNA at pH 2 and 7, but not at pH 12. The DNA-nanoparticle complexes transfected EGFP-N1 pDNA into SGC-7901 cells in vitro with the efficiency about 80% as referenced with Lipofectmine TM 2000. In vivo animal experiment revealed no acute toxic adverse effect 2 weeks after tail vein injection into mice, and TEM examination demonstrated their biodistribution and expression within the cytoplasm and also a little in the nuclei of the liver, kidney and brain tissue cells. These results suggest that the HA nanoparticle is a promising material that can be used as gene carrier, vectors.