Lamellar hydroxyapatite (L-HAp) nanoplates of varying structure and morphology were synthesized by changing the template synthesis conditions including content of template agent and calcium and phosphate precursors. The as-prepared L-HAp nanoplates were characterized by XRD, TEM, and zeta potential analyses and their cytoxicity, DNA loading capacity, and gene transfection efficiency were evaluated. Results showed that loading of template agent and concentration of precursors had significant effects on the structure and morphology of L-HAp nanoplates. The L-HAp nanoplates with good lamellar structure could allow the intercalation of DNA molecules into the gallery of L-HAp and thus exhibited higher DNA loading capacity and transfection efficiency. It has been demonstrated that the structure and morphology of L-HAp nanoplates can be controlled by adjusting processing variables and that the L-HAp nanoplates with good lamellar structure has great potential as a gene delivery vector in non-viral based therapy. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.