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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (8): 3498-3502    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2026.05.063
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Engineered ferritin nanocages for efficient siRNA delivery and potent gene silencing in plants

Han Zhang1, 3*, Ziyan Hu2*, Xiangyu Bao1*, Kun Wang1, Lijia Zheng4, Changqing Zhang3, Xueyong Yang1#, Jiachen Zang2#, Yuxuan Qin1#

1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

2 College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

3 College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

4 Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

 Highlights 
A bioinspired delivery platform using optimized 24-mer ferritin protein nanocages (FNCs) was developed to provide robust protection for siRNA against RNase-mediated degradation.
The FNC platform effectively bypasses physical barriers, facilitating efficient internalization of siRNA into both the leaf and root tissues of Cucumis sativus and Arabidopsis thaliana.
Potent non-transgenic gene silencing was achieved, with significant reductions in GFP reporter mRNA levels and fluorescence, providing a scalable framework for transient trait modification.
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Received: 09 February 2026   Accepted: 17 April 2026 Online: 30 May 2026  
Fund: 

This work was supported by the Beijing Rural Revitalization Agricultural Science and Technology Project, China (NY2601500000 and Z231100003723005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (32525052), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS-CSIAF-202401, CAAS-ZDRW202103, and CAAS-ASTIP-2024-IVF).

About author:  #Correspondence Xueyong Yang, E-mail: yangxueyong@caas.cn; Jiachen Zang, E-mail: zangjiachen@cau.edu.cn; Yuxuan Qin, E-mail: qinyuxuan@caas.cn * These authors contributed equally to this study.

Cite this article: 

Han Zhang, Ziyan Hu, Xiangyu Bao, Kun Wang, Lijia Zheng, Changqing Zhang, Xueyong Yang, Jiachen Zang, Yuxuan Qin. 2026. Engineered ferritin nanocages for efficient siRNA delivery and potent gene silencing in plants. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(8): 3498-3502.

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