title: Principal Physicochemical Methods Used to Characterize Dendrimer Molecule Complexes Used as Genetic Therapy Agents, Nanovaccines or Drug Carriers.
abstract: Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to medicine. This field is related to the study of nanodevices and nanomaterials applied to various medical uses, such as in improving the pharmacological properties of different molecules. Dendrimers are synthetic nanoparticles whose physicochemical properties vary according to their chemical structure. These molecules have been extensively investigated as drug nanocarriers to improve drug solubility and as sustained-release systems. New therapies such as gene therapy and the development of nanovaccines can be improved by the use of dendrimers. The biophysical and physicochemical characterization of nucleic acid/peptide-dendrimer complexes is crucial to identify their functional properties prior to biological evaluation. In that sense, it is necessary to first identify whether the peptide-dendrimer or nucleic aciddendrimer complexes can be formed and whether the complex can dissociate under the appropriate conditions at the target cells. In addition, biophysical and physicochemical characterization is required to determine how long the complexes remain stable, what proportion of peptide or nucleic acid is required to form the complex or saturate the dendrimer, and the size of the complex formed. In this review, we present the latest information on characterization systems for dendrimer-nucleic acid, dendrimer-peptide and dendrimer-drug complexes with several biotechnological and pharmacological applications.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Modelado Molecular y Diseño de Fármacos, Escuela Superior de Medicina-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City 11340. Mexico.
authors.forename: Rodríguez Fonseca Rolando
authors.initials: RFR
authors.lastname: Alberto
authors.affiliation: CQM-Centro de Quimica da Madeira, MMRG, Universidade da Madeira, Campus da Penteada 9020-105, Funchal. Portugal.
authors.forename: Rodrigues
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Joao
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio InmunoBiología Molecular and Plataforma de Laboratorio, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón (HGUGM), Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM), Spanish HIV-HGM BioBank, Madrid, Spain; Networking Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Madrid. Spain.
authors.forename: Muñoz-Fernández María
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: de Los Angeles
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Modelado Molecular y Diseño de Fármacos, Escuela Superior de Medicina-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City 11340. Mexico.
authors.forename: Martínez Muñoz
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Alberto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Orgánica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas-Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Mexico.
authors.forename: Fragoso Vázquez
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Manuel Jonathan
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Modelado Molecular y Diseño de Fármacos, Escuela Superior de Medicina-Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City 11340. Mexico.
authors.forename: Correa Basurto
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: José
mesh_terms: D050091:Dendrimers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004337:Drug Carriers; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D049329:Nanostructures; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D050091:Dendrimers; D004337:Drug Carriers; D014612:Vaccines
keywords: Nanovaccines; dendrimers; functional properties characterization.; gene therapy; nucleic acids; peptides