Porous Silicon and Polymer Nanocomposites for Delivery of Peptide Nucleic Acids as Anti-MicroRNA Therapies

Abstract

Self-assembled polymer/porous silicon nanocomposites overcome intracellular and systemic barriers for in vivo application of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) anti-microRNA therapeutics. Porous silicon (PSi) is leveraged as a biodegradable scaffold with high drug-cargo-loading capacity. Functionalization with a diblock polymer improves PSi nanoparticle colloidal stability, in vivo pharmacokinetics, and intracellular bioavailability through endosomal escape, enabling PNA to inhibit miR-122 in vivo.

Keywords: PNA; anti-miRNA; nanocomposite; peptide nucleic acids; porous silicon.