Dendrimer-drug Conjugates in Drug Delivery and Targeting

Background: Conjugation of several bio-actives to macromolecular nanocarriers is a promising approach to improve the efficiency and reduce side effects. Dendrimer represents a novel class of synthetic nanocarriers, comprised of different branched materials with tailor-made functionalities to conjugate wide varieties of bioactive molecules, therapeutic agents and different pharmacological substances including antibodies, ligands etc. Such opportunistic properties has been equally explored for the purpose of diagnostic applications as well. Methods: We have accomplished thorough bibliographic search and compilation of referred/indexed peer-reviewed literature to concisely review the above mentioned concept. The organized study was carried out concerned for dendrimer-drug conjugates employed in drug delivery and targeting to specific sites for their biological and clinical evaluation. Results: One hundred forty one papers were referred in this review after throughout literature survey. The conjugation is favorable and is easy to perform with the carriers like dendrimers due to its unique properties and multiple functional groups at the surface. The present review highlights the general properties class and applications of dendrimers in drug delivery. The focus is particularly on the dendrimer drug conjugates which are comparatively less explored area than the non-covalent dendrimer drug interactions. Conclusion: Conjugation of drugs to the dendrimers has particularly resulted into the increased drug payload and improved drug activity as evidenced by the reports discussed here in this article. Therefore in future it would be more advantageous to explore the dendrimer drug conjugation approaches for delivering drugs through dendrimers.