The blood-brain barrier (BBB) poses great difficulties for gene delivery to the brain. To circumvent the BBB, we investigated a novel brain-targeting gene vector based on the nanoscopic high-branching dendrimer, polyamidoamine (PAMAM), in vitro and in vivo. Transferrin (Tf) was selected as a brain-targeting ligand conjugated to PAMAM via bifunctional polyethyleneglycol (PEG), yielding PAMAM-PEG...

Highly branched polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers presenting biological activities have been envisaged as non-viral gene delivery vectors. They are known to associate with nucleic acid (DNA) in non-covalent complexes via electrostatic interactions. Although their transfection efficiency has been proved, PAMAMs present a significant cytotoxicity due to their cationic surface. To overcome such a ...

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...

PAMAM (polyamidoamine) dendrimers have been recently exploited as efficient and biocompatible unimolecular micelles for oil spill remediation utilizing their robust encapsulation capability. However, experimental evidence suggested that contrasting dispersion mechanisms of PAMAM exist toward different types of hydrocarbon ligands, including linear and polyaromatic oil molecules. Specifically, t...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers on corneal permeation of puerarin (PUE). Permeation studies were performed using excised cornea of rabbits by a Valia-Chien diffusion apparatus. Drug-treatment studies were carried out by measuring the penetration of puerarin on cornea in PAMAM-PUE physical mixture or PAMAM-PUE complex, and cornea-treatme...

BACKGROUND Schistosomiasis japonica remains a major public-health concern in China. Praziquantel-based chemotherapy effectively reduces both infections and intensity; however, it can not prevent re-infection. Furthermore, there is an increasing concern about praziquantel resistance following long-term repeated use of the drug in endemic areas. Therefore, development of a schistosomiasis vaccine...

BACKGROUND Antibody-dendrimer conjugates have the potential to improve the targeting and release of chemotherapeutic drugs at the tumor site while reducing adverse side effects caused by drug accumulation in healthy tissues. In this study, trastuzumab (TMAB), which binds to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), was used as a targeting agent in a TMAB-polyamidoamine (PAMAM) conjugate ...

Construction of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer-based nanoplatforms for tumor computed tomography (CT) imaging and theranostics has gained significant attention in recent years. The unique characteristics PAMAM dendrimers such as monodispersity,...

A gene drug delivery system for glioma therapy based on transferrin (Tf)-modified polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM) was prepared. Gene drug, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (hTRAIL)-encoding plasmid open reading frame (pORF-hTRAIL, Trail), was condensed by Tf-modified PAMAM to form nanoparticles (NPs). PAMAM-PEG-Tf/DNA NPs showed higher cellular uptake, in vitro gene expr...

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Nanotechnology approaches can overcome the side effects of chemotherapy as well as improve the efficacy of drugs. Dendrimers are nanometric size polymers which are suitable as drug delivery systems. To the best of our knowledge, studies on the application of PAMAM G4.5 (polyamidoamine half generation 4) dendrimers a...