Layered double hydroxides （LDHs） are effective molecular carriers in cytological research, gene therapy, and transgenic applications. Herein, we investigated the internalization behavior of the LDH-DNA biocon- jugates via a microscopic approach and analyzed the internalization pathway by dissipative particle dynamics （DPD） simulations. We experimentally found that LDH can efficiently carry DNA into the nucleus of cell in BY-2 suspension cells. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction anal- ysis demonstrated that the LDH-DNA bioconjugates mainly exist as a DNA-LDH-DNA sandwich complex, while the LDH-DNA-LDH sandwich complex and DNA-LDH complex cannot be excluded. The DPD simu- lations further indicated that only the DNA-LDH-DNA sandwich structure could penetrate the plasma membrane （PM）, while PM is impermeable to the LDH-DNA-LDH sandwich complex and the DNA-LDH complex. This work provides novel perspective for understanding the membrane penetration mechanism of LDH nano-sheets and new insights into the design of novel molecular delivery systems.
Ye LiWenlong BaoHongyang WuJunya WangYu ZhangYinglang WanDapeng CaoDermot O'HareQiang Wang
