Dehydrated chitosan nanoparticles

Abstract

The present invention relates to dehydrated nanoparticles comprising chitosan and a nucleic acid. Preferably, the nucleic acid is a siRNA. Dehydrated nanoparticles of the invention have improved storage characteristics. The particles may be used in screening methods, e.g. where they have been dried onto a solid support, such as the surface of a culture well. The nanoparticles may also be dried onto implants for tissue engineering scaffolds, where they enable transfection of cells growing on the scaffold. Moreover, the particles have therapeutic relevance.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.