Patent ID: 8252756

Claim:
A method of inhibiting expression of a gene product comprising the step of hybridizing a polynucleotide encoding said gene product with one or more oligonucleotides complementary to all or a portion of said polynucleotide, said oligonucleotide being covalently bound to an inorganic nanoparticle, wherein said nanoparticle does not comprise a targeting peptide, wherein hybridizing between said polynucleotide and said oligonucleotide, in a buffer and in the absence of a transfection reagent, occurs over a length of said polynucleotide with a degree of complementarity sufficient to inhibit expression of said gene product, wherein the expression is inhibited by at least 5% compared to expression in the absence of the oligonucleotide, and wherein said nanoparticle is not a dendrimer.