Abstract
Recent development and advances in the application of nanotechnology in
the field of medicine have led to the evolution of multifunctional “smart” nanocarriers
that are capable of delivering one or more therapeutic agents effectively, safely and
selectively to tumor cells, including intracellular gene-specific targeting. Dendrimers
have a high level of control over the synthesis of dendritic architecture, well-defined
size, shape, molecular weight, membrane interaction and monodispersity, making them
a perfect example of one such multifunctional smart nanocarrier.
The 3D nano-polymeric architecture of dendrimer makes it an appropriate choice for
drug and gene delivery vectors. The functional groups attached on the surface of
dendrimers permit the addition of other moieties that can actively target certain
diseases, which are now widely used as tumor-targeting strategies. Along with being
compact and globular in structure, dendrimers also exhibit interior cavity spaces and
multiple surface functional groups, which play a vital role in encapsulating drug
molecules both in the interior of the dendrimers (physical encapsulation) as well as in
the surface functional groups (covalent conjugations). The application of dendrimers in
biomedicine has recently attracted much attention worldwide. Dendrimers are
interesting in the field of biomedical applications due to their unique characteristics.