Engineered nano–bio cellular interfaces driven by vertical nanostructured materials are set to spur transformative progress in modulating cellular processes and interrogations. In particular, the intracellular delivery—a core concept in fundamental and translational biomedical research—holds great promise for developing novel cell therapies based on gene modification. This study demonstrates the development of a mechanotransfection platform comprising vertically aligned silicon nanotube (VA‐SiNT) arrays for ex vivo gene editing. The internal hollow structure of SiNTs allows effective loading of various biomolecule cargoes; and SiNTs mediate delivery of those cargoes into GPE86 mouse embryonic fibroblasts without compromising their viability. Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB‐SEM) and confocal microscopy results demonstrate localized membrane invaginations and accumulation of caveolin‐1 at the cell–NT interface, suggesting the presence of endocytic pits. Small‐molecule inhibition of endocytosis suggests that active endocytic process plays a role in the intracellular delivery of cargo from SiNTs. SiNT‐mediated siRNA intracellular delivery shows the capacity to reduce expression levels of F‐actin binding protein (Triobp) and alter the cellular morphology of GPE86. Finally, the successful delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) to specifically target mouse Hprt gene is achieved. This NT‐enhanced molecular delivery platform has strong potential to support gene editing technologies.
Sputtered Ba1−xSrxTiO3 (BST) and SrTiO3 (STO) films and capacitors made with these dielectrics have been characterized with respect to physical and electrical properties. Specific capacitance values included a high of 96 fF/μm2 for BST films deposited of 600 °C and a high of 26 fF/μm2 for STO films deposited at 400 °C. Leakage current densities at 3.3 V for the most part varied from mid 10−8 to mid 10−6 A/cm2. All of the dielectrics are polycrystalline, although the lowest temperature STO films have a nearly amorphous layer which impacts their capacitance. Grain size increases with deposition temperature, which correlates to higher dielectric constants. The lattice parameter of the BST films is larger than that of bulk samples. Capacitance, leakage, breakdown, and lifetime results are reported.
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