Effect of Tb/Mg doping on composition and physical properties of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles for gene vector application
(1. Department of Stomatology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
3. Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China)
Abstract: Transfection efficiency of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAnps) is relative to the particle size, morphology, surface charge, surface modifier and so on. This study prepared HAnps with doped Tb/Mg by hydrothermal synthesis method (HTSM) and investigated the effects of different Tb/Mg contents on the morphology, particle size, surface charge, composition and cellular endocytosis of HAnps. The results showed that Mg-HAnps possessed better dispersion ability than Tb-HAnps. With increasing doping content of Tb/Mg-HAnps, the granularity of Tb-HAnps increased, while that of Mg-HAnps declined. Both particle size and zeta potential of Mg-HAnps were lower than those of Tb-HAnps. 7.5% Mg-doping HAnps presented relatively uniform slender rod morphology with average size of 30 nm, while 10% Mg-doping HAnps were prone to agglomeration. Moreover, Mg-HAnps-GFP (green fluorescent protein) endocytosed by MG63 cells was dotted in the perinuclear region, while Tb-HAnps were more likely to aggregate. In conclusion, as gene vectors, Mg-HAnps showed enhanced properties compared to Tb-HAnps.
Key words: hydroxyapatite nanoparticles; gene vector; endocytosis; doping; fluorescence labeling