[Advances in the investigation of biological effect and surface modification of dendrimers as drug (gene) delivery systems]

Abstract

Dendrimers are highly branched macromolecules that have attractive nano-sized architectures. It seems that they can enter various cells easily because of their unique nanostructures and chemical properties, which make them to be one of important candidates of non-virus carriers for drug delivery or gene therapy. However, the understanding of cytotoxicity and related mechanisms of dendrimers are still limited. In recent years there has been rapid increases of researches regarding the biological effects of dendrimers, including the interactions of dendrimers to cells, transport mechanisms, intracellular distribution and biodistribution in vivo, as well as improvement of biocompatibility of dendrimers by surface engineering. In this paper, recent advances in the investigations of biological effect and surface modification for the dendrimers as drug or gene delivery systems were reviewed.