ABSTRACT
Amine-terminated poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers have been attached to sodium hyaluronates (NaHAs) by a coupling reaction, and the complexes have been characterized. By the complexation with dendrimers, the morphology of NaHAs was varied from the commom network to the bead and string network, which gave rise to the decrease in viscosity of NaHAs. The bead and string network was more abundant for the covalent network complex than the noncovalent one. The beads, that is, the nano-knots of the network consist of the covalent-bonded NaHA/ dendrimer composites, and the strings are NaHA chains. Beads became small and strings decreased in number with decreasing a molecular weight of NaHA. The complexation of sodium poly-L-glutamates (NaPGAs) with PAMAM dendrimers was different in the manner from that of NaHAs with dendrimers. Flexible NaPGAs produced globular composites with dendrimers.
