title: New pharmaceutical applications for macromolecular binders.
abstract: Macromolecular binders consist of polymers, dendrimers, and oligomers with binding properties for endogenous or exogenous substrates. This field, at the frontier of host/guest chemistry and pharmacology, has met a renewed interest in the past decade due to the clinical success of several sequestrants, like sevelamer hydrochloride (Renagel®) or sugammadex (Bridion®). In many instances, multivalent binding by the macromolecular drugs can modify the properties of the substrate, and may prevent it from reaching its site of action and/or trigger a biological response. From small (e.g., ions) to larger substrates (e.g., bacteria and cells), this review presents the state-of-the-art of macromolecular binders and provides detailed illustrative examples of recent developments bearing much promise for future pharmaceutical applications.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, PO Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada. nicolas.bertrand@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gauthier
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bouvet
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petitjean
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Leroux
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leblond
mesh_terms: D001702:Biopharmaceutics; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances