Molecular delivery with nanowires

摘要

A molecular delivery system including a plurality of nanowires (e.g., Si NWs), each of the nanowires having a surface layer formed of a silicon-containing material and a covalently bound linker (e.g., silane linker) attached to the surface layer, and optionally including a substrate to which the nanowires are adhered or a molecule to be delivered attached to the linker. Also disclosed is a method of delivering into a cell an exogenous molecule.

主权项

1. A system comprising:
a substrate having a surface; a plurality of nanowires attached to the surface; a plurality of cells of a first cell type or a second cell type penetrated by at least one nanowire of the plurality of nanowires; and a plurality of molecules to be delivered to the plurality of cells, wherein at least one of the nanowires further comprises a surface layer of a silicon-containing material, a first silane linker covalently bound thereto, and a first molecule of the plurality of molecules electrostatically bound to the first silane linker, wherein at least one cell of the plurality of cells penetrated by the at least one nanowire of the plurality of nanowires further contains at least some of the first molecule within the cytoplasm and not electrostatically bound to the first silane linker, wherein the plurality of nanowires has a diameter of less than 200 nm, a length of 2.5-5 μm, and a density of 0.5-5 nanowires/μm2 configured for high delivery efficiency to the first cell type or a diameter of less than 200 nm, a length of 0.5-2.5 μm, and a density of 0.01-10 nanowires/μm2 configured for high delivery efficiency to the second cell type, wherein the first cell type is different from the second cell type, and wherein a second molecule of the plurality of molecules is attached to a second silane linker, the second molecule being different from the first molecule, wherein the first molecule and the second molecule are connected to the same nanowire via the respective silane linkers.