Application of dendrimers in drug delivery and tissue engineering

Dendrimers are macromolecules that are inspired from nature and are a playfield for synthetic chemist. These particles are nano-sized, radially symmetric molecules with well-defined, homogeneous, and monodisperse 3D structure that has been being originating from a central core molecule and surrounded by successive addition of branching layers (generation). Additionally, these structures exhibit a high degree of molecular uniformity, narrow molecular weight distribution, tunable size and shape characteristics, as well as multivalency. The availability of multiple peripheral functional groups and tunable surface engineering enable the facile modification of the dendrimer surface with different therapeutic drugs, diagnostic agents and targeting ligands. Terminal functionalities provide a platform for conjugation of the drug and targeting moieties. In addition, these peripheral functional groups can be employed to tailor-make the properties of dendrimers, enhancing their versatility. To avoid tissue rejection during organ transplantation, research has focused on the use of tissue engineering to regenerate required tissues or organs for patients. Despite the wide-spread use of dendrimers in biomedical applications, their use in the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds has been limited. In recent years, dendrimers and dendrons have been employed as well-defined building blocks in these materials. Compared to linear polymers, the multiple end groups of dendrimers may potentially offer more control over factors such as cell proliferation rates and biodegradation profiles through systematic variation of generation size, concentration, and end group chemistry. This review introduces their types of dendrimers, their application in drug delivery and additionally describes examples where dendritic macromolecules have been incorporated into scaffolds for the regeneration of a variety of tissues and cell types

کلیدواژه ها:

Dendrimers ، Drug delivery ، Tissue engineering ، Nano materials