Magnetotactic bacterial cages as safe and smart gene delivery vehicles
Shahad K. Alsaiari,
Alaa H. Ezzedine,
Abdallah M. Abdallah,
Rachid Sougrat,
Niveen M. Khashab
Affiliations
Shahad K. Alsaiari
Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) Laboratory, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Alaa H. Ezzedine
Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) Laboratory, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Abdallah M. Abdallah
Computational Bioscience Research Center, Biological Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Jeddah 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Rachid Sougrat
KAUST Advanced Nanofabrication Imaging and Characterization Core Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Niveen M. Khashab
Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) Laboratory, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
In spite of the huge advances in the area of synthetic carriers, their efficiency still poorly compares to natural vectors. Herein, we report the use of unmodified magnetotactic bacteria as a guidable delivery vehicle for DNA functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). High cargo loading is established under anaerobic conditions (bacteria is alive) through endocytosis where AuNPs are employed as transmembrane proteins mimics (facilitate endocytosis) as well as imaging agents to verify and quantify loading and release. The naturally bio-mineralized magnetosomes, within the bacteria, induce heat generation inside bacteria through magnetic hyperthermia. Most importantly after exposing the system to air (bacteria is dead) the cell wall stays intact providing an efficient bacterial vessel. Upon incubation with THP-1 cells, the magnetotactic bacterial cages (MBCs) adhere to the cell wall and are directly engulfed through the phagocytic activity of these cells. Applying magnetic hyperthermia leads to the dissociation of the bacterial microcarrier and eventual release of cargo.
