The interactions of nanomaterials with plasma proteins have a significant impact on their in vivo transport and fate in biological fluids. This article discusses the binding of human serum albumin (HSA) to poly(amidoamine) [PAMAM] dendrimers. We use protein-coated silica particles to measure the HSA binding constants (K(b)) of a homologous series of 19 PAMAM dendrimers in aqueous solutions at p...

We have evaluated the potential use of various polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer [dendrimer, generation (G) 2-4] conjugates with cyclodextrins (CyDs) as novel DNA and RNA carriers. Among the various dendrimer conjugates with CyDs, the dendrimer (G3) conjugate with α-CyD having an average degree of substitution (DS) of 2.4 [α-CDE (G3, DS2)] displayed remarkable properties as DNA, shRNA and siRNA ...

The first surface vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopic studies of amine-terminated Starburst® PAMAM G0 and G1 and acylated PAMAM G0 dendrimers at the glass–, gold–, and air–dendrimer interface are presented. Amine-terminated PAMAM G0 and G1 dendrimers as compared to the acylated PAMAM G0 dendrimer reveal significantly different surface SFG spectroscopic signatures. Raman spe...

Highly branched, functionalized polymers have potential to act as efficient drug carrier systems. Dendrimers are ideal candidates among model hyperbranched polymers because of their well-defined structure and high density of functional groups. Using ibuprofen as a model drug, we studied the interaction between the drug and Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers (generations 3 and 4 with --NH2 functi...

Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are used to study generation 5 polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers immersed in a bath of water. We interpret the results in terms of three classes of water: buried water well inside of the dendrimer surface, surface water associated with the dendrimer-water interface, and bulk water well outside of the dendrimer. We studied the dynamic and thermodynamic pr...

Ocular gene therapy holds promise for the treatment of numerous blinding disorders. Despite the significant progress in the field of viral and non-viral gene delivery to the eye, significant obstacles remain in the way of achieving high-level transgene expression without adverse effects. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is involved in the pathogenesis of retinal diseases and is a key target...

The effect of 5th generation polyamidoamine (PAMAM G5) dendrimers on multilamellar dipalmitoylphosphocholine (DPPC) vesicles was investigated. PAMAM was added in two different concentrations to the lipids (10(-3) and 10(-2) dendrimer/lipid molar ratios). The thermal behavior of the evolved systems was characterized by DSC; while the structure and the morphology were investigated with small- and...

Nanoparticles carrying biologically active functional sets (e.g., targeting moiety, payload, tracer) have potential use in a wide range of clinical applications. Though complex, such constructions should, as far as possible, have a defined molecular architecture and be monodisperse. However, the existing methods to achieve this goal are unsuitable for the incorporation of peptides and proteins,...

Background Accumulating evidence on the causal role of spinal cord microglia activation in the development of neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury suggests that microglial activation inhibitors might be useful analgesics for neuropathic pain. Studies also have shown that polyamidoamine dendrimer may function as a drug delivery vehicle to microglia in the central nervous system. In thi...

We have investigated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer interactions with supported 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) lipid bilayers and KB and Rat2 cell membranes using atomic force microscopy (AFM), enzyme assays, flow cell cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy. Amine-terminated generation 7 (G7) PAMAM dendrimers (10-100 nM) were observed to form holes of 15-40 nm in diamete...