Dendrimers nanocarriers

Kaminskas, L.M., McLeod, V.M., Porter, C.J.H., Boyd, B.J., 2012. Association of chemotherapeutic drugs with dendrimer nanocarriers an assessment of the merits of covalent conjugation compared to noncovalent encapsulation. Mol. Pharm. 9 (3), 355-373. 

For some examples, see e.g. (a) Hogan CF, Harris AR, Bond AM et al (2006) Electrochemical studies of porphyrin-appended dendrimers. PhysChemChemPhys 8 2058-2065 (b) Jang W-D, Nishiyama N, Zhang G-D et al (2005) Supramolecular nanocarrier of anionic dendrimer porphyrins with cationic block copolymers modified with polyethylene glycol to enhance intracellular photodynamic efficacy. Angew Chem Int Ed 44 419 -23 (c) Loiseau F, Campagna S, Hameurlaine A et al (2005) Dendrimers made of porphyrin cores and carbazole chromophores as peripheral units. Absorption spectra, luminescence properties, and oxidation... 

Bai SH, Thomas C, Rawat A, Ahsan F. Recent progress in dendrimer-based nanocarriers. Crit. Rev. Ther. Drug Carrier Sys. 2006 23 437-495. 

The name dendrimer comes from the ancient Greek words dendron , which means tree, and meros , which means part. Dendrimers are synthetic highly branched globular molecules.They consist of a central core molecule with three attachment points dendrons which bind to these attachment points look like tree arms and sometimes have surface modification (see Figure 11.5). They form highly symmetric, generally mono-disperse and pure nanocarriers which have well-defined architecture, size and shape. 

Small assemblies that topologically mimic the micelle architecture but that present covalently bound amphiphilic chains have been synthesized as an alternative approach to provide intrinsic stability These nanocarriers are referred to as unimolecular polymeric micelles (UPM) and consist of single macromolecules such that their formation and dissociation are intrinsically independent on polymer concentration (no apparent CMC). UPM can be obtained from both dendrimers and star-block copol)miers, with the latter form involving fewer s)mthetic steps and being simpler to prepare. 

Cheng Z, Thorek DLJ, Tsourkas A. Porous polymersomes with encapsulated Gd-labeled den-drimers as highly efficient MRI contrast agents. Adv Funct Mater 2009 19 3753-9. Kesharwani P, Jain K, Jain NK. Dendrimer as nanocarrier for drug delivery. Prog Polym Sci 2014 39 268-307. 

Kesharwani P, Jain K, Jain NK. Dendrimer as nanocarrier for drug delivery. Prog Polym Sci 2014 39 268-307. 

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