Biomedical Applications of Peptide-, Glyco- and Glycopeptide Dendrimers, and Analogous Dendrimeric Structures

Dendrimers are repeatedly branched and roughly spherical large molecules. They can be used in various medical applications, such as anticancer polymeric nanomedicines and nanocarriers, gene carriers and vectors in gene delivery, contrast agents for molecular imaging and vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer. The highly branched, multivalent nature and molecular architecture of dendrimers make them ideal tools for a variety of tissue engineering applications. This book describes different categories of dendrimers, their biomedical and physico-chemical applications as well as convergent and divergent syntheses, click chemistry and ligation strategies. It is a rich source of information for researchers in biochemistry and pharmacology working on drug development as well as for organic chemists who are engaged in synthesis of dendrimers. Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction....Pages 1-5 Front Matter....Pages 7-7 Definition of Terms and Nomenclature....Pages 9-22 Sugar Code (Glycocode)....Pages 23-27 Classes of Peptide-, Glyco-, and Glycopeptide Dendrimers....Pages 29-44 The Dendritic State and Dendritic Effects....Pages 45-54 Synthesis of Dendrimers: Convergent and Divergent Approaches....Pages 55-81 Purification and Characterization of Dendrimers....Pages 83-92 Dendrimeric Libraries....Pages 93-98 Dendrimers in Catalysis....Pages 99-102 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 Dendrimers and Solubility....Pages 105-109 Biocompatibility and Toxicity of Dendrimers....Pages 111-114 Dendrimers in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology....Pages 115-129 Dendrimers in Drug Delivery....Pages 131-140 Dendrimers in Gene Delivery....Pages 141-147 Dendrimers and Bacteria....Pages 149-159 Dendrimers and Viruses....Pages 161-170 Dendrimers and Parasites....Pages 171-173 Cancer....Pages 175-182 Diagnostics, Lectin Detection and Cell–Cell Interactions....Pages 183-190 Dendrimers as Biosensors and Imaging Tools....Pages 191-195 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 Dendrimers Regulating Intracellular Signaling Pathways....Pages 197-198 Vaccines and Immunomodulation....Pages 199-207 Dendrimers in Neurodegenerative Diseases....Pages 209-221 Conclusions and Perspectives....Pages 223-224 Back Matter....Pages 225-238