What is PAMAM dendrimer?

PAMAM dendrimers are a family of highly branched and mono-disperse synthetic macromolecules with well-defined structures and compositions. Synthesis of these nanocarriers can be carried out through the divergent route.

What are some desirable features of dendrimers for drug delivery?

[23] Unlike traditional polymers, dendrimers have received considerable attention in biological applications due to their high water solubility,[24] biocompatibility,[25] polyvalency[12] and precise molecular weight. [26] These features make them an ideal carrier for drug delivery and targeting applications.

What are desired characteristics of dendrimers?

The physical characteristics of dendrimers, including their monodispersity, water solubility, encapsulation ability, and large number of functionalizable peripheral groups make these macromolecules appropriate candidates for drug delivery vehicles.

What is dendrimer used for?

Due to their size, dendrimers are used in nanomedicine research. They are found to be useful as delivery or carrier systems for drugs and genes, but studies have shown that some dendrimers have medicinal uses of their own, mostly due to their antifungal, antibacterial and cytotoxic properties [5,6].

Why are dendrimers used in drug delivery?

We have demonstrated the utility of PAMAM dendrimers for enhancing solubility, stability and oral bioavailability of various drugs. Drug entrapment and drug release from dendrimers can be controlled by modifying dendrimer surfaces and generations.

How do dendrimers increase the solubility of molecules?

Dendrimer concentration at 37°C was found to have a positively linear correlation with the aqueous solubility of silybin. The improvement in solubility was due to an electrostatic interaction between the dendrimer surface groups and the silybin molecules.

What category of nanoparticle is a dendrimer?

Dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles (DENs) are nanoparticles ranging from 1.5 to 10 nm that are synthesized by a template approach using dendrimers. Monometallic, bimetallic and semiconductor nanoparticles have been synthesized using this method.

How dendrimers are formed?

Dendrimers are constructed by the successive addition of layers to the branching groups. The synthesis of dendrimers involves a core molecule with branching groups to which other branching molecules are added (see figure below) in layers. Each new layer is called a generation.

What are dendrimers nanotechnology?

Dendrimers represent a class of novel polymers having unique molecular architectures characterized by their well-defined structure, with a high degree of molecular uniformity, low polydispersity and properties that make them attractive materials for the development of nanomedicines.

What is dendrimer nanotechnology?

What are the different ways of drug loading in dendrimers?

The dendrimer architecture has three main sites for drug entrapment by using various mechanisms: (i) void spaces (by molecular entrapment); (ii) branching points (by hydrogen bonding); and (iii) outside surface groups by (charge–charge interactions) (Figure 1).