ABSTRACT
Multifunctional nanoparticles designed to navigate around the human body are promising as vehicles for intelligent drug delivery, as devices for imaging, and as medical sensors to detect and diagnose disease. This chapter describes synthesis of dendrimer composite nanoparticles and recent efforts to understand complex nanoparticle biodisposition including physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling. It summarizes the synthesis and primary physicochemical and biologically relevant properties of gold/dendrimer composites and the potential for utilizing physiologically based mathematical models for nanoparticles. As physical interactions of the individual nanoparticle with its molecular environment are dominated by the contact surface of the template molecules and composite nanoparticles can be synthesized with either cationic, anionic, neutral, lipophilic, lipophobic or mixed surfaces. Gold nanoparticle/protein conjugates are finding increasing application as biochemical sensors, enzyme enhancers, nanoscale building blocks, and immunohistochemical probes. Experiments over a larger range of nanoparticle doses, sizes, and contents will be needed to better understand the pharmacokinetic properties of dendrimer composite nanoparticles and devices.
