Since the pioneering work dealing with the synthesis and physicochemical aspects of dendrimers,
a predictable and tunable set of compositions for therapeutic, scaffolding and
imaging systems has been reported. These are well documented, butmanyhot issues should
be examined and reviewed. Herein, a review is given on dendritic nanopolymers and their
applications that show promise in the field of regenerative medicine. This review begins with a brief overview on research merging nanotechnology and regenerative medicine.
Fundamentals of the synthesis and macromolecular structure of dendritic polymers are
provided. Dendrimers fulfill the requirements as carriers for gene, nucleic acids, bioactive
molecules and peptide/protein delivery aimed at modulate the cells functions, in vitro
and in vivo. However, to make use of this potential, toxicological, drug-loading capacity,
surface engineering and host–guest chemistries in dendrimers must be addressed and
thus are also discussed. We focus on recent work involving dendrimers with applications
in tissue engineering and the central nervous system. Due to their innovative character,
applications beyond drug delivery systems became possible, namely as scaffolding and
chemoattractants for tissue regeneration, and implantable biodegradable nanomaterialbased
medical devices integrated with drug delivery functions (theranostics). Finally, we
highlight promising areas for further research and comment on how and why dendrimer
and dendron technology should be viewed as the next generation of biomaterials for the
21st century.The authors wish to acknowledge the funding provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the POCTI and FEDER programs, and FCT project (SMARTCARBO). This work was carried out under the scope of the European NoE EXPERTISSUES (NMP3-CT-2004-500283) and European Union HIPPOCRATES STREP Project (NMP3-CT-2003-505758). Canon Foundation in Europe is also gratefully acknowledged
