Intracellular delivery of molecular beacons by PMMA nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes for mRNA sensing

We describe here the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polymeric nanoparticles made of a core of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) surrounded by a shell bearing cationic groups, as intracellular delivery tools of molecular beacons (MBs), particular fluorescent DNA probes, for the detection and localization of a specific mRNA. Survivin mRNA targeting MBs have been used with Atto647N and Blackberry 650 as fluorophore/quencher pair. The MB was anchored to the surface of CNTs and PMMA nanoparticles via a commercial sulfhydryl-reactive heterobifunctional crosslinker and the achieved nanomaterials were then characterized in vitro. © 2013 Copyright SPIE.