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Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers in Medicine

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Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials

Synonyms

Arborols; Cascade molecules; Dendritic polymers; Dendron

Definition

Dendrimers are synthetically manufactured, three-dimensional macromolecules built up from a monomer, with new branches added in steps until a treelike structure is created. Dendrimers are technically polymers and are being investigated for possible uses in nanotechnology and other fields.

Introduction and Historical Background

The application of nanotechnology in medicine and pharmaceuticals is a rapidly advancing field that is swiftly gaining recognition as an autonomous area of research called “nanomedicine.” Critical needs in this field, however, are biocompatible and bioactive materials for in vivo and in vitro diagnostics as well as therapy including targeted delivery and regenerative medicine. Therefore, extensive attention has been given to the design and development of new macromolecular systems. Among the various polymeric architectures, dendritic (“treelike”) polymers have experienced an exponential...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Takustrasse 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Shashwat Malhotra & Rainer Haag

Authors
  1. Shashwat Malhotra
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  2. Rainer Haag
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rainer Haag .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fiber and Textile Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Kobayashi

  2. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

    Klaus Müllen

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Malhotra, S., Haag, R. (2015). Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers in Medicine. In: Kobayashi, S., Müllen, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29648-2_17

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