Principal Physicochemical Methods Used to Characterize Dendrimer Molecule Complexes Used as Genetic Therapy Agents, Nanovaccines or Drug Carriers

Title:Principal Physicochemical Methods Used to Characterize Dendrimer Molecule Complexes Used as Genetic Therapy Agents, Nanovaccines or Drug Carriers

Volume: 23 Issue: 21

Author(s): Rodríguez Fonseca Rolando Alberto, Rodrigues Joao, Muñoz-Fernández María de los Angeles, Martínez Muñoz Alberto, Fragoso Vázquez Manuel Jonathan*Correa Basurto José

Affiliation:

• Departamento de Química Orgánica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas-Instituto Politécnico Nacional,Mexico

Keywords: Nanovaccines, gene therapy, dendrimers, peptides, nucleic acids, functional properties characterization.

Abstract: Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to medicine. This field is related to the study of nanodevices and nanomaterials applied to various medical uses, such as in improving the pharmacological properties of different molecules. Dendrimers are synthetic nanoparticles whose physicochemical properties vary according to their chemical structure. These molecules have been extensively investigated as drug nanocarriers to improve drug solubility and as sustained-release systems. New therapies such as gene therapy and the development of nanovaccines can be improved by the use of dendrimers. The biophysical and physicochemical characterization of nucleic acid/peptide-dendrimer complexes is crucial to identify their functional properties prior to biological evaluation. In that sense, it is necessary to first identify whether the peptide-dendrimer or nucleic aciddendrimer complexes can be formed and whether the complex can dissociate under the appropriate conditions at the target cells. In addition, biophysical and physicochemical characterization is required to determine how long the complexes remain stable, what proportion of peptide or nucleic acid is required to form the complex or saturate the dendrimer, and the size of the complex formed. In this review, we present the latest information on characterization systems for dendrimer-nucleic acid, dendrimer-peptide and dendrimer-drug complexes with several biotechnological and pharmacological applications.

Cite this article as:

Alberto Fonseca Rolando Rodríguez, Joao Rodrigues, de los Angeles María Muñoz-Fernández, Alberto Muñoz Martínez, Manuel Jonathan Vázquez Fragoso*, José Basurto Correa, Principal Physicochemical Methods Used to Characterize Dendrimer Molecule Complexes Used as Genetic Therapy Agents, Nanovaccines or Drug Carriers, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2017; 23 (21) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612823666170220164535