The arginine-modified and europium-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles（HAP-Eu） were synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis.The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,X-ray diffractometry（XRD）,Fourier transform infrared（FTIR） and zeta potential analyzer.The cell viability of HAP-Eu was tested by image flow cytometry.The results indicated that HAP-Eu is short column shapes and its size is approximately 100 nm,its zeta potential is about 30.10 mV at pH of 7.5,and shows no cytotoxicity in human epithelial cells and endothelial cells.
In order to further improve the transfection efficiency of hydroxyapatite nanoparticle （HAp）, arginine functionalized hydroxyapatite （HAp/Arg） was synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis. The morphology, crystallite size and zeta potential of the HAp/Arg were characterized by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, atomic force microscopy （AFM） and zeta potential analyzer. The loading and protecting properties of HAp/Arg to DNA were tested by electrophoresis. Its cytotoxicity was also measured in Hela cells and HAEC cells by MTT and LDH, and its transfection efficiency was examined by fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry. The results reveal that HAp/Arg is short rod-like and nano single crystal, the mean diameter is 50-90 nm and zeta potential is 35.8 mV at pH 7.4. HAp/Arg to DNA can be condensed by electrostatic effect and protect DNA against degradation in DNase I, and shows high transfection efficiency without cytotoxicity. These results suggest that HAp/Arg can be a promising alternative as a novel gene delivery system.
