ABSTRACT
Dendrimer nanostructures represent outstanding nanocarriers in nanomedicine, and they have often been referred to as the "Polymers of the 21st century." This chapter proposes the dendrimer space concept, per analogy with the chemistry and biology space concepts, which are extensively used in pharmaceutical industry to develop new drugs. Dendrimers in the theranostic approach for nanomedicine, the design of nontoxic, biocompatible, and efficient organic dendritic nanodots for diagnosis open new avenues in medicine. The dendrimer diameter increases linearly, while the number of surface groups increases exponentially for each generation. Dendrimers can be employed as nanocarriers for the delivery of drugs. For this aim, two different approaches have been used: physical encapsulation of drugs in the void spaces of the dendrimers or electrostatic binding between the drugs and the ionic peripheral groups on the surface of dendrimers; covalent linking of the drug to the dendrimer surface.
