Strategy for Conjugating Oligopeptides to Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Using Diazirine-Based Heterobifunctional Linkers.

Successful strategies for the attachment of oligopeptides to mesoporous silica with pores large enough to load biomolecules should utilize the high surface area of pores to provide an accessible, protective environment. A two-step oligopeptide functionalization strategy is examined here using diazirine-based heterobifunctional linkers. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) with average pore diameter of ~8 nm and surface area of ~730 m/g were synthesized and amine-functionalized.

Effect of Confinement in Nanopores on RNA Interactions with Functionalized Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles.

Amine-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPAs) are ideal carriers for oligonucleotides for gene delivery and RNA interference. This investigation examines the thermodynamic driving force of interactions of double-stranded (ds) RNA with MSNPAs as a function of RNA length (84 and 282 base pair) and particle pore diameter (nonporous, 2.7, 4.