Research Status of Dendrimer Micelles in Tumor Therapy for Drug Delivery

Abstract

Dendrimers are a family of polymers with highly branched structure, well‐defined composition, and extensive functional groups, which have attracted great attention in biomedical applications. Micelles formed by dendrimers are ideal nanocarriers for delivering anticancer agents due to the explicit study of their characteristics of particle size, charge, and biological properties such as toxicity, blood circulation time, biodistribution, and cellular internalization. Here, the classification, preparation, and structure of dendrimer micelles are reviewed, and the specific functional groups modified on the surface of dendrimers for tumor active targeting, stimuli‐responsive drug release, reduced toxicity, and prolonged blood circulation time are discussed. In addition, their applications are summarized as various platforms for biomedical applications related to cancer therapy including drug delivery, gene transfection, nano‐contrast for imaging, and combined therapy. Other applications such as tissue engineering and biosensor are also involved. Finally, the possible challenges and perspectives of dendrimer micelles for their further applications are discussed.

Modular Synthesis of PEG-Dendritic Block Copolymers by Thermal Azide–Alkyne Cycloaddition with Internal Alkynes and Evaluation of their Self-Assembly for Drug Delivery Applications

“…In the following three sections, the usefulness of AAC-based PEG-dendritic block copolymers for the preparation of polymeric assemblies with potential applications in drug delivery will be discussed. As mentioned above, block copolymers are interesting materials with the ability to assemble in solution due to differences in the solubility or charge properties of the blocks. − The resulting assemblies can encapsulate drugs and protect them from the surrounding media after in vivo administration, and eventually, deliver them to target cells and organs either by passive or active targeting, which makes them useful in cancer medicine, gene therapy, and diagnostics. , …”

“… 1 − 6 The resulting assemblies can encapsulate drugs and protect them from the surrounding media after in vivo administration, and eventually, deliver them to target cells and organs either by passive or active targeting, which makes them useful in cancer medicine, gene therapy, and diagnostics. 35 , 36 …”

“…1−6 The resulting assemblies can encapsulate drugs and protect them from the surrounding media after in vivo administration, and eventually, deliver them to target cells and organs either by passive or active targeting, which makes them useful in cancer medicine, gene therapy, and diagnostics. 35,36 With this aim, three AAC-based block copolymers of Figure 3, namely, PEG-[G3]-Et (C 2 aliphatic ester), PEG-[G3]-Ar (C 10 aromatic ester), and PEG-[G3]-Dod (C 12 aliphatic ester) were selected to assess the influence of the hydrophilic− hydrophobic balance of the blocks on their ability to self-assemble into nanometric micelles for the encapsulation of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) (Figure 4). A second section showcases how the presence of terminal azides in AACbased PEG-dendritic block copolymers can be exploited in the preparation of cross-linked polymersomes for improved stability (Figure 5).…”

Emerging ctDNA detection strategies in clinical cancer theranostics

“…The tumor tissue refers to the new tissue formed by abnormal proliferation of certain tissue cells under the effect of various tumorigenic factors. 1,2 Tumors are classified into benign and malignant tumors according to their differentiation degree, growth rate, and other characteristics, and malignant tumors are generally known as cancer. Cancer is a major public health issue all over the world.…”

Influence of the Core Branching Density on Drug Release from Arborescent Poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) End-Grafted with Poly(ethylene oxide)

“…Over the past two decades, many new drug delivery systems have been developed to enhance the aqueous solubility of drugs, increase their circulation time in the bloodstream, and thereby increase their therapeutic efficacy [1,2]. Various drug delivery systems have been developed with different designs, including polymeric micelles, metal nanoparticles, dendrimers, liposomes, and carbon nanotubes [3][4][5][6][7]. Among different nanocarriers used for controlled drug delivery, polymeric micelles (e.g., amphiphilic block copolymer micelles, unimolecular micelles, and cross-linked micelles) with tunable properties have shown great potential due to their excellent characteristics that brought them to the front line in the development of drug delivery systems [8,9].…”