Preparation and in vitro siRNA transfection ability of novel siRNA-Loaded nanobubbles

Objective To explore a method for preparing siRNA-loaded nanobubbles (siRNA-NBs) with a special structure and determine the siRNA transfection efficiency in vitro.Methods siRNA-NBs were formed by hetero-assembly of nanobubbles and polymeric siRNA-micelles.Dynamic light scatter and transmission electron microscope were employed to determine the novel structure of siRNA-NBs.Meanwhile,flow cytometery and inverted fluorescence microscope were used to investigate the in vitro siRNA transfection efficiency of siRNA-NBs with low frequency ultrasound exposure.Results The siRNANBs possessed uneven surfaces with the diameter of (332.0 ± 20.4)nm.After low-frequency ultrasound exposure,the in vitro siRNA transfection efficiency of siRNA-NBs was (57.3 ± 2.5)％,with the widely cytoplasmic siRNA distribution.Conclusions The successfully preparation of siRNA-NBs with high transfection efficiency in vitro indicates that the novel ultrasound contrast agent are of great potential in siRNA targeting delivery and gene therapy. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Microbubbles;  Transfection;  RNA,small cell interfering