Background

Dendrimers are nano-sized globular macromolecules that have been well studied as a drug delivery vehicles. Their convenient synthesis strategy, easy functionalization of the terminal end group and versatility in designing, make dendrimers such as PAMAM, a choice for drug carrier. Additionally dendrimers as macromolecular carrier have large loading capacity to achieve high concentration at tumor sites. Therefore a controlled strategy to functionalize dendrimers with multiple molecules such as targeting module, cytotoxic drug and/ or fluorescent moiety coupled with their purification strategy that achieves batch to batch consistency is critical for fully exploiting the field of dendrimer based tumor targeting.

Technology

To overcome the inconsistency associated with multi-functionalization of dendrimers, Researchers at Stony Brook University developed an asymmetric bow-tie dendrimer construction strategy. Using this strategy researchers developed and tested the efficacy of a novel bow-tie dendrimer, bearing a PEGylated spacer that improve solubility, vitamin as a tumor targeting module and a new generation toxoid. In summary, this technology introduces novel multifunctional asymmetric bow-tie dendrimers as a robust platform for drug delivery systems and diagnostic agents. Development Stage: _In vitro_ data is available.

Advantages

- High loading capacity - Increased concentration at target sites - Allows controlled functionalization of dendrimer surface  - Robust chemistry and batch-to-batch consistency

Application

- Drug delivery - Therapeutics - Imaging  - Research