Multifunctional dendritic polymers in nanomedicine: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Nanotechnology has resulted in materials that have greatly improved the effectiveness of drug delivery because of their ability to control matter on the nanoscale. Advanced forms of nanomedicine have been synthesized for better pharmacokinetics to obtain higher efficacy, less systemic toxicity, and better targeting. These criteria have long been the goal in nanomedicine, in particular, for systemic applications in oncological disorders. Now, the "holy grail" in nanomedicine is to design and synthesize new advanced macromolecular nanocarriers and to translate them from lab to clinic. This review describes the current and future perspectives of nanomedicine with particular emphasis on the clinical targets in cancer and inflammation. The advanced forms of liposomes and polyethylene glycol (PEG) based nanocarriers, as well as dendritic polymer conjugates will be discussed with particular attention paid to designs, synthetic strategies, and chemical pathways. In this critical review, we also report on the current status and perspective of dendritic polymer nanoconjugate platforms (e.g. polyamidoamine dendrimers and dendritic polyglycerols) for cellular localization and targeting of specific tissues (192 references).

Towards engineering of self-assembled nanostructures using non-ionic dendritic amphiphiles

“…Nonionic amphiphiles are of particular interest for biomedical applications. [7][8][9][10] In recent times much attention has been focused on a new category of amphiphilic systems, dendritic amphiphiles, for use as functional supramolecular materials. 11,12 Dendritic amphiphiles with well-defined structures lie at the interface of classical surfactants and amphiphilic polymers in terms of their structure, and their self-assembly result in well-defined and persistent [13][14][15] nanostructures.…”

Controlling the number of dendrimers in dendrimicelle nanoconjugates from 1 to more than 100

“…[3][4][5] Therefore, supramolecular structures of dendrimers, in which size, shape, structure and functions are tunable, are widely investigated.…”

The influence of surface charge on serum protein interaction and cellular uptake: studies with dendritic polyglycerols and dendritic polyglycerol-coated gold nanoparticles

“…They are highly biocompatible and can be synthesized with different functionalities on their surface offering a high variability and allowing modulation of the binding affinity. [27][28][29] Sulfated dendritic polyglycerol (dPGS) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties in vivo and in vitro with the relevant cellular targets being L-and P-selectins. 28,30,31 The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of size and charge of dPGs on the interactions with serum proteins and to study the influence of the protein corona on cellular uptake in human CD14…”