shRNA intercalation in CaAl-LDH nanoparticle synthesized at two different pH conditions and its comparative evaluation

Abstract In continuation with our previous report w.r.t the synthesis of phase pure and mixed phase calcium aluminum layered double hydroxide (CaAl-LDH) and its subsequent evaluation with regard to anticancer property, the present communication demonstrates the intercalation of plasmid encoded short hairpin RNA (shRNA) into the interlayer space of CaAl-LDH nanoparticle (precipitated both at pHs 8.5 and 12.5, designated as sample A and B respectively) by a simple technique to obtain the requisite loading, followed by evaluation of the cellular uptake and localization. The presence of interlayer carbonate anion (CO32−) as an impurity, were quantified both in the samples A and B, using ion chromatography, of which, the later exhibited a higher value (6.10 ppm) which in turn had hindered the intercalation of the shRNA, largely. Further, the cellular uptake using colon cancer cell line (HCT 116) could be correlated, based on the above data, as, for sample A, a threefold higher value (9.34%) was found in a period of 72 h, compared to sample B (3.54%), without using any transfection reagent. This observation was corroborated using confocal imaging to understand the internalization at the cellular level.