TY - JOUR

T1 - Dendrimers in Medicine

T2 - therapeutic concepts and pharmaceutical challenges

AU - Wu, Linping

AU - Ficker, Mario

AU - Christensen, Jørn Bolstad

AU - Trohopoulos, Panagiotis N.

AU - Moghimi, Seyed Moien

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Dendrimers are three-dimensional macromolecular structures originating from a central core molecule and surrounded by successive addition of branching layers (generation). These structures exhibit a high degree of molecular uniformity, narrow molecular weight distribution, tunable size and shape characteristics, as well as multivalency. Collectively, these physicochemical characteristics together with advancements in design of biodegradable backbones have conferred many applications to dendrimers in formulation science and nanopharmaceutical developments. These have included the use of dendrimers as pro-drugs and vehicles for solubilization, encapsulation, complexation, delivery, and site-specific targeting of small-molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals, and contrast agents. We briefly review these advances, paying particular attention to attributes that make dendrimers versatile for drug formulation as well as challenging issues surrounding the future development of dendrimer-based medicines.

AB - Dendrimers are three-dimensional macromolecular structures originating from a central core molecule and surrounded by successive addition of branching layers (generation). These structures exhibit a high degree of molecular uniformity, narrow molecular weight distribution, tunable size and shape characteristics, as well as multivalency. Collectively, these physicochemical characteristics together with advancements in design of biodegradable backbones have conferred many applications to dendrimers in formulation science and nanopharmaceutical developments. These have included the use of dendrimers as pro-drugs and vehicles for solubilization, encapsulation, complexation, delivery, and site-specific targeting of small-molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals, and contrast agents. We briefly review these advances, paying particular attention to attributes that make dendrimers versatile for drug formulation as well as challenging issues surrounding the future development of dendrimer-based medicines.

U2 - 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00031

DO - 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00031

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25654320

VL - 26

SP - 1198

EP - 1211

JO - Bioconjugate Chemistry

JF - Bioconjugate Chemistry

SN - 1043-1802

IS - 7

ER -