Glutathione-Sensitive Silicon Nanowire Arrays for Gene Transfection

Abstract

Ingenious surface modification strategies and special topological morphologies endow the biomaterial interface with excellent ability to regulate the cell fate. In this work, a gene delivery platform based on glutathione-sensitive silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWAs) is developed, exhibiting good transfection efficiency of several cell types. Briefly, the surface of SiNWAs is grafted of PEI_CBA, a branched cationic polymer cross-linked by disulfide bonds (SN-PEI_CBA). When the cells adhere to the platform surface, silicon nanowires penetrate into the cells and the high concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) in cytoplasm breaks the disulfide bonds (S-S) in PEI_CBA. The plasmid DNA preloaded on the cationic polymers is successfully delivered to the nuclei through the nonlysosomal pathway. Cells harvested from the SN-PEI_CBA show high retention of viability and the platform surface can be reused though S-S replacement for at least three times. In general, our platform is a creative combination of intracellular responsive strategy and surface morphology, which has great potential for auxiliary use in ex vivo cell-based therapies and various biomedical applications.

Keywords: GSH; gene transfection; glutathione-sensitive; recyclability; silicon nanowire arrays.