Dendrosomes are vesicular, spherical, supramolecular entities wherein the
dendrimer–
nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main cl ...
complex is encapsulated within a
lipophilic shell. They possess negligible hemolytic toxicity and higher
transfection efficiency, and they are better tolerated
in vivo than are dendrimers. The word " Dendrosome" came from the Greek word "Dendron" meaning tree and " some" means
vesicle
Vesicle may refer to:
; In cellular biology or chemistry
* Vesicle (biology and chemistry), a supramolecular assembly of lipid molecules, like a cell membrane
* Synaptic vesicle
; In human embryology
* Vesicle (embryology), bulge-like features o ...
s. Thus dendrosomes are vesicular structures composed of dendrimers.
Applications
Dendrosomes have been explored as vectors in
gene delivery and
genetic immunization.
Poly (propyleneimine) dendrosome based genetic immunization against
Hepatitis B was found to be highly effective as compared to Dendrimer-
Plasmid
A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria; how ...
DNA complex. It has been postulated that in dendrosomes, the poly (propyleneimine) dendrimer–DNA complex is largely protected by multilamelarity of the vesicles. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that the lipoidal layers of the dendrosomes modifies the release pattern of the poly (propyleneimine) dendrimer –DNA complex, while some of the larger vesicles remain at the site of
injection following their
degradation by tissue
phospholipases, the smaller ones delivering and transfecting efficiently the
antigen-presenting cell
An antigen-presenting cell (APC) or accessory cell is a cell that displays antigen bound by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins on its surface; this process is known as antigen presentation. T cells may recognize these complexes using ...
s (APC) in the draining
lymph node
A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that inclu ...
s. Dendrosomes have also been explored for the delivery of s10siRNA targeting E6/E7
oncogenes in
cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...
. It has been reported that polyamidoamine dendrimer based dendrosomes are efficient systems for the delivery of
siRNA for effective management of cervical cancer.
Toxicology
Dendrosome are reported to be completely nontoxic both ''
in vitro'' as well as ''in vivo''.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Controlled Release Society Americal Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
Applied genetics
Biotechnology
Gene delivery
Membrane biology
Dendrimers