ABSTRACT
The role of dendrimers to disturb fibril formation has been mainly studied by fluorescence, using the thioflavine T assay and by monitoring changes in the secondary structure of peptides by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The electron paramagnetic resonance technique is a precious tool to investigate biological systems at a molecular level with the purpose to obtain in situ information about the interactions between the different molecules and the chemical transformations. Spin probes are used to analyze the interactions between phosphorus dendrimers and the amyloid and the prion peptides involved in Alzheimer and prion neurodegenerative diseases. The chapter describes some examples of the EPR characterization of P-dendrimers in the absence and presence of peptides involved in neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer cells. In all cases, the results helped to clarify the interacting behavior of the dendrimers, which is of importance for a better understanding of the biochemical processes occurring in situ at a molecular level for a biomedical-pharmacological use of the dendrimers.
