Title:Dendrimers: General Aspects, Applications and Structural Exploitations as Prodrug/Drug-delivery Vehicles in Current Medicine
VOLUME: 18 ISSUE: 5
Author(s):Merina Mariyam, Kajal Ghosal*, Sabu Thomas, Nandakumar Kalarikkal and Mahima S. Latha*
Affiliation:Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills, Kottayam, Kerala 686560, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills, Kottayam, Kerala 686560, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills, Kottayam, Kerala 686560, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills, Kottayam, Kerala 686560, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Priyadarshini Hills, Kottayam, Kerala 686560
Keywords:Biomedical applications, conjugation, dendrimer, pharmaceutical, drug delivery systems, encapsulation, prodrug.
Abstract:Dendrimers are hyper branched macro molecules with well-defined structure and high degree
of functionality on the surface. The dendrimer architecture allows control over properties such as
shape, size, density, polarity, reactivity, solubility etc. These special features can be exploited to design
molecules having desired properties used for biomedical applications. Recent advancements in correlation
between structure and biodegradability and in vivo performance are opening up new avenues for
these molecules; particularly, in biological applications like drug delivery. The unique structure of
dendrimers provides enough attachment sites for drugs. Further, it is possible to tune the molecules in
such a way so that the drug molecules are encapsulated outside the target area and are released only in
the local environment of targets. This review presents some general aspects of dendrimers and how
their properties are exploited for drug delivery applications.
