Dendrimer a new dimension in targeting biofilms

Biofilms prevail in natural and man-made environment on all surfaces. They play a beneficial role in water treatment, waste management and are important reservoirs of pathogens involved in fouling of medical and industrial equipments. Biofilms are resistant to antimicrobial agents and there is a lack of understanding in combating these communities. With the advent of dendrimer this scenario has shown promising change. Dendrimers are complex 3D structure molecules that provide well defined functionality with potential application. Although the studies regarding dendrimer technology are in infancy it serves as an attractive feature for drug encapsulation, binding and delivery to the target site. The synthesis of dendrimers is cumbersome and suffers from certain shortcomings such as extensive purification, lower yield and steric hindrance. However, these drawbacks are overcome by engineering alteration in the dendritic structure. In this review we focus on the biological application of dendrimer derived from peptide, carbohydrate, quaternary ammonia and metal ion in inhibiting biofilm formation and antimicrobial activities.