  We investigated the ability of diamond nanoparticles (nanodiamonds, NDs) to
deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA) in Ewing sarcoma cells, in the
perspective of in vivo anti-cancer nucleic acid drug delivery. siRNA was
adsorbed onto NDs previously coated with cationic polymer. Cell uptake of NDs
has been demonstrated by taking advantage of NDs intrinsic fluorescence coming
from embedded color center defects. Cell toxicity of these coated NDs was shown
to be low. Consistent with the internalization efficacy, we have shown a
specific inhibition of EWS/Fli-1 gene expression at the mRNA and protein level
by the ND vectorized siRNA in a serum containing medium.
