Owing to the unique physical and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes, they have been widely explored as delivery vectors for proteins, and nucleic acid etc. after functionalization. Particularly, the modification of carbon nanotubes suited for the delivery of siRNA has been intensely studied over the past decade. The assay described in this chapter allows for realizable quantification of siRNA binding on carbon nanotube-based materials using gel electrophoresis and silencing by flow cytometry when the siRNA complexes are delivered in vitro.
Keywords: Binding capacity; Carbon nanotubes; Cationic polymer; N/P ratio; Silencing efficiency; siRNA delivery.