What are Dendrimers?
Dendrimers are tree like macromolecules with branching reach out from central
core. In late 1970s, scientists like Fritz Vögtle, at the University of Bonn,
Germany, and Donald A. Tomalia, then working for Dow Chemical in Midland,
Mich., started to build the first of these branching molecules. A keyword search
for "dendrimers" and "dendritic polymers" shows that the number of
dendrimer-related papers published has grown from a handful in the early 1990s
to more than 1,000 research papers in 2005.
These branched macromolecules are constructed around a simple core unit.
dendrimers have a high degree of molecular uniformity, narrow molecular weight
distribution, specific size and shape characteristics, and a highly- functionalized
terminal surface. The manufacturing process is a series of repetitive steps
starting with a central initiator core. Each subsequent growth step represents a
new "generation" of polymer with a larger molecular diameter, twice the number
of reactive surface sites, and approximately double the molecular weight of the
preceding generation.
- Dendrimer
Companies
Nanotechnologies inc.
Starpharma Ltd
NanoCure Corp
Nanotechnologies inc.
Sigma-Aldrich
Fisher Scientific
| Product |
Application |
Company |
| Vivagel |
Vaginal Gel for preventing HIV |
Starpharma |
| Stratus CS |
Cardiac Marker |
Dade Behring |
| SuperFect |
Gene Transfection |
Qiagen |
| Alert Ticket |
Anthrax Detection |
US Army Research Laboratory |
drugs in the core of the dendrimer, and chemical conjugation of drugs,
solubilizing groups (including polyoxyethylene glycol), and ligands to the surface
of dendrimers making them ideal nanocarriers for drug delivery. Products based
on dendrimers are get into market and Vivagel is the first product based on
dendrimer which is under Phase I clinical Trial.
Related Publications
Enhanced porphyrin accumulation using dendritic derivatives of 5-aminolaevulinic
acid for photodynamic therapy: An in vitro study.NEW
International journal of biochemistry & cell biology, 2006, In Press
Dendrimers as drugs: discovery and preclinical and clinical development of
dendrimer-based microbicides for HIV and STI prevention
Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2005, 2, 312 -318.
Detection of lymph node involvement in hematologic malignancies using
micromagnetic resonance lymphangiography with a gadolinum-labeled dendrimer
nanoparticle
Neoplasia. 2005, 7, 984-991
Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers: from biomimicry to drug delivery and
biomedical applications
Drug Discovery Today, 2001, 6, 427-436
Patent Watch
One of the First Patents on Dendrimers
Dense star polymers having core, core branches, terminal groups
Tomalia Et al., USPT 4,507,466, March 26, 1985.
Bioactive and/or targeted dendrimer conjugates
Tomalia Et al., USPT 5,714,166 February 3, 1998.
Phosphorus-containing dendrimers as transfection agents
Majoral , et al. USPT 6,969,528 November 29, 2005
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