Dendrimers: Smart nanoengineered polymers for bioinspired applications in drug delivery

Dendrimers have attracted growing attention in the field of drug delivery as smart nanoengineered polymers. They are defined as novel three-dimensional polymers with nearly monodispersed architectures with well-defined size and shape. Dendrimers are synthesized by step-by-step controlled chemical reactions. Because of their unique properties, exclusive synthesis methods, distinctive architecture, monodispersity, and physicochemical properties, dendrimers are emerging as smart, tailor-made, safe, and effective nanoengineered polymers for biomedical applications. In the current scenario dendrimers are extensively being investigated as bioinspired polymers for various drug delivery applications to achieve controlled delivery as well as to develop personalized medicine systems. They have shown potential as intracellular delivery vector to achieve therapeutic concentration at cellular targets with enhanced specificity. Furthermore, dendrimers have also shown their applicability in tissue engineering. Dendrimers have been explored in the controlled and targeted delivery of a large number of bioactives, including anticancer drugs, antiviral drugs, antileishmanial drugs, small interfering RNA, gene, antigens, and diagnostic and contrast agents. Unmodified dendrimers with surface cationic groups may elicit some toxic manifestations, and the surface engineering of dendrimers to mask these cationic surface groups plays a critical role in their possible clinical applications by rendering them a more biocompatible surface with less toxicity. Dendrimers are being explored for a vast array of biomedical applications, and in this chapter we have given an account on the various aspects of this nanoengineered polymer, particularly in relevance to its drug delivery applications.