Dendrimers are versatile, derivatisable, well-defined, compartmentalised chemical polymers with sizes and physicochemical properties resembling those of biomolecules e.g. proteins. The present critical review (citing 158 references) briefly describes dendrimer design, nomenclature and divergent/convergent dendrimer synthesis. The characteristic physicochemical features of dendrimers are highlighted, showing the effect of solvent pH and polarity on their spatial structure. The use of dendrimers in biological systems are reviewed, with emphasis on the biocompatibility of dendrimers, such as in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity, as well as biopermeability, biostability and immunogenicity. The review deals with numerous applications of dendrimers as tools for efficient multivalent presentation of biological ligands in biospecific recognition, inhibition and targeting. Dendrimers may be used as drugs for antibacterial and antiviral treatment and have found use as antitumor agents. The review highlights the use of dendrimers as drug or gene delivery devices in e.g. anticancer therapy, and the design of different host-guest binding motifs directed towards medical applications is described. Other specific examples are the use of dendrimers as 'glycocarriers' for the controlled multimeric presentation of biologically relevant carbohydrate moieties which are useful for targeting modified tissue in malignant diseases for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Finally, the use of specific types of dendrimers as scaffolds for presenting vaccine antigens, especially peptides, for use in vaccines is presented.

Dendrimer science has exploded onto the polymer science scene as the fourth major class of polymer architecture. Capturing the history of dendrimer discovery to the present day, this book addresses all the essential information for newcomers and those experienced in the field, including: • Fundamental theory, chemistry and physics of the 'dendritic state' • Synthetic strategies (click chemistry, self-assembly, and so on) • Dendron/dendrimer characterization techniques • Architecturally driven 'dendritic effects' • Developments in scientific and commercial applications • Convergence with nanotechnology, including dendrimer-based nanodevices, nanomaterials, nanotoxicology and nanomedicine • Dendrimers as a window to a new nano-periodic system. Including first-hand accounts from pre-1995 pioneers, progress in the dendrimer field is brought to life with anticipated developments for the future. This is the ideal book for researchers in both academia and industry who need a complete introduction to the 'dendritic state' with a special focus on dendrimer and dendron polymer science.

Dendrimers are well-defined (monodisperse) synthetic globular polymers with a range of interesting chemical and biological properties. Chemical properties include the presence of multiple accessible surface functional groups that can be used for coupling biologically relevant molecules and methods that allow for precise heterofunctionalization of surface groups. Biologically, dendrimers are highly biocompatible and have predictable biodistribution and cell membrane interacting characteristics determined by their size and surface charge. Dendrimers have optimal characteristics to fill the need for efficient immunostimulating compounds (adjuvants) that can increase the efficiency of vaccines, as dendrimers can provide molecularly defined multivalent scaffolds to produce highly defined conjugates with small molecule immunostimulators and/or antigens. The review gives an overview on the use of dendrimers as molecularly defined carriers/presenters of small antigens, including constructs that have built-in immunostimulatory (adjuvant) properties, and as stand-alone adjuvants that can be mixed with antigens to provide efficient vaccine formulations. These approaches allow the preparation of molecularly defined vaccines with highly predictable and specific properties and enable knowledge-based vaccine design substituting the traditional empirically based approaches for vaccine development and production.

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