Adsorption and protection of plasmid DNA on mesoporous silica nanoparticles modified with various amounts of organosilane

► Adsorption and protection of pDNA on Am-MSNs with various APTES amounts were studied. ► All the Am-MSNs exhibited good adsorption capacity of pDNA. ► Samples with moderate APTES amount could totally protect pDNA. ► The effect of APTES amount on pDNA protection was addressed. ► The materials might be good candidates for gene carriers.