In vitro and in vivo applications of 3D dendritic gold nanostructures

Our review focuses on a new class of materials - three-dimensional (3D) dendritic gold nanostructures - and their potential in vivo and in vitro application. To better understand this class of materials and its properties, an overview on dendrimers and gold nanoparticles is needed. Dendrimers are known for their biomimetic properties and they are often compared with proteins due to their globular shape. Dendritic structures make excellent drug delivery systems and their ability to detect or target specific cells and to release active agents in a controlled manner when using adequate functionalization was already proven. Moreover, dendrimers can envelop other functionalized nanoparticles and create even more efficient targeting and release systems. Gold nanoparticles are already being used in the biomedical field in applications like sensing, photodynamic therapy, therapeutic agent delivery and diagnostics. Their high applicability is due to their optical properties, also called quantum size effect, given by the interaction between light and electrons onto the surface of the gold nanoparticles. There are three main types of gold dendritic structures: gold-dendrimer nanocomposites, dendrimer-entrapped nanoparticles (DENPs) and gold monocrystalline dendritic growths. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-dendrimer structures combine the therapeutic properties of AuNPs with dendrimer's reactivity and biological membrane crossing ability.