Design, synthesis and potent pharmaceutical applications of glycodendrimers: a mini review

Dendrimers are a new class of artifical macromolecules with well-defined hyperbranched structures which endue these promising materials with a wide variety of applications. They are useful tools in drug discovery and allow bio-active molecules to be presented in a highly multi-valent fashion on the surface. Recently, the use of dendrimers as scaffolds of carbohydrates to synthesize glycodendrimers with high and specific affinities to various receptors has made it possible for these dendritic materials to participate in extracellular and intracellular biochemical processes. References on synthesis and biological applications of glycodendrimers in the literatures demonstrate that dendrimers are suitable candidates as scaffolds of these bioactive carbohydrates. In this mini-review, different approaches to construct glycodendrimers as well as their promising applications in biological systems are fully discussed.